October 14, 2018

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Wisdom 7: 7-11; Hebrews 4: 12-13; Mark 10: 17-30 Do I feel comfortable because I am a priest and a Catholic that I have an inner road to heaven? Do I feel that being a Christian I have an upper hand and God will forget about my inadequacies? Have I ever spent time in working on my ‘bad habits’ or ‘sinful tendencies’? Every Lent, most Advent’s and on New Years’ I make some sort of ‘resolutions’ but am I ever sincere in these? When I do take time to ‘work on me’ do I ask God for help and join in a ‘partnership’ of tackling my ‘problems’? Am I afraid of going in this ‘partnership’ with God, maybe feeling ‘I don’t really want to get rid of that fault’? Have I ever noticed that my predominant fault has slipped into the background? If it has, was this God’s work and did I express my gratitude for this? What makes me reluctant to work on my predominant fault? Do I like keeping it? Do I feel it would be too much work to give it up? Do I just say, ‘Well that’s just me…you have to accept me with all my flaws and faults? In the Gospel today the man asked Jesus, “What must I do…”. Have I asked God this same question, inserting my ‘predominant fault’ in the question? Today’s readings help us. People have been coming to Solomon to ask about his ‘wisdom’. He consistently tells them that just because he is a king, he came into the world just like everyone else. “In swaddling clothes and with constant care I was nurtured. For no king has any different origin or birth, but one is the entry into life for all; and in one same way they leave it.” (Wisdom 7: 4-6) Then he turns to God with today’s passage, “Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded , and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.” (NOTE: The actual words of the prayer constitute the 10th Chapter of Wisdom.) Solomon loves wisdom more than the ‘stuff’ of royalty: riches, priceless gems, gold and silver. All the limited gifts are much more secure when one has wisdom to use them wisely, prudently and lovingly. Then there is little danger of these things of the world getting in the way of putting God first. Paul is telling us that God’s Word is deep within. God has created each of us in His love. We are never separated from that love. “Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” The Roman soldiers’ sword was two edged and very effective. It was razor sharp on both sides so that it could cut deeply both ways. Since God created us and is always with us, He ‘penetrates’ our hearts with His love. This allows us to look deep inside ourselves which gives us the opportunity to get in touch with God’s love. God’s love may seem hidden to us, but it is always present and operative. Am I allowing God to love me? Do I realize that God is only concerned about me? I do not have to DO anything to be eligible for this love. God loves! God loves me! I am a sinner…but I am a loved sinner…and I am a redeemed loved sinner. I can never reflect on this sufficiently. Now since God loves me, it stands to reason that God has called each person to be love. Since we are called to be love we have been commissioned by our Baptism to be Jesus’ disciples. In today’s gospel we hear exactly about the cost of discipleship. A man specifically comes to Jesus with his confusion to get a clarification about what a disciple must do and how he can inherit eternal life? Jesus shared the absolute importance of the Commandments. The man had followed all of these, but he knew that he was missing something. He knew he was a good person. He knew that he had been faithful to all the commandments. But why did he feel that there was still much more for him to consider? “Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” He was honest and sincere. But the man knew that there was something blocking him from a deeper knowledge and experience of God in his life. What was this? He was well off…he had many possessions. It is important to know that ‘traditional wealth’ was understood by Judaism as a sign of God’s blessing. And the opposite: poverty, sickness, disease was considered a sign of God’s disfavor. Now being wealthy did not necessarily imply it was OK to be selfish or have a lack of concern for those in need. The man just couldn’t give up what he had. Do I view that everything I have is a gift from God? Do I realize that gifts are meant to be used and not abused? Do I realize that my gifts are meant to be shared? Do I realize that gratitude must be supreme in my acknowledgement of my gifts? Jesus goes on to teach that wealth, possessions can be a real stumbling block for anyone and everyone wanting to enter the Kingdom of God. Is it impossible? No! Does it make it really hard to focus on God, love, caring and giving when I have been given so much? Definitely! Only God can help me in re-focusing my priorities. Just Jesus’ example of a camel going through the eye of a needle shows that it is only through God’s grace that all things are possible. This teaching certainly was very disturbing to the disciples and to every person journeying to heaven. Peter asks the question that was probably on the minds of each of the apostles: what about us? Jesus tells them and us to continue on…realize how important it is to realize that you are not the center of your world. One author put it this way, ‘You just can’t get to heaven holding on to baggage you want to bring with you. ‘ Another truism states, ‘You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul.’ Sunday Homily Helps states: “Jesus goes even further. He says no person can get to heaven by himself/herself. We need a Savior who makes the impossible possible. Jesus is the narrow gate. Jesus opens our hearts to see our pride and self-righteousness, so we can choose to trust in Him alone.” Only God can save! So I reflect on: • What ‘preferences’ in my life could be the wealth I need to sell or give away? • When has indifference led me to good in ways I least expected? • Have I ever thought what is the price I pay to gain heaven? Why not? • Have I felt that entrance into heaven is guaranteed? • Can I appear to ‘my world’ as a good person and still not fulfill the words of the gospel? • How attached am I to my possessions? Can I have an abundance of material things and still be a good Christian? How do I do this? • Can those I love sometimes be a stumbling block to living a good Christian life? How and why? • Am I an example to those I love in my making God first in my life? Sacred Space 2018 states: “Today we are reminded of the difficulty that comes from being too attached to things and forgetting that true fulfillment comes from the love of God and the love of others. It is a great blessing to be free enough to use things for the purpose of loving. Without God, this kind of loving is impossible. I ask Him for His help. What are my honest struggles in following Jesus? What do I fear He will ask me to give up? What do I cling to, unsure that grace will be enough? I pray now for the grace to trust with open hands.”