8th Ordinary Week,
1 Pet 1:3-9; Mk 10:17-27
HOMILY: "Loosing to Gain"
In the Gospel passage Jesus expresses the no pain, no gain philosophy. There is a need to voluntarily loose in order to gain something else.
Today we have the story of a rich man who believed that in his material wealth was his happiness. The Jewish tradition believed that wealth was a clear sign of God's blessings; poverty was a curse from God.
Why is it so difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God? The man in the story said that he kept the commandments. One should notice that, except for one, all are expressed negatively. The man could observe several of them by doing nothing! Jesus was asking him to do something very positive, namely, to share his prosperity with his brothers and sisters in need. That he was not prepared to do.
When Jesus uses the word 'rich' he means a person who has more, a lot more, while many of those around him do not have enough for their basic needs. The sin is refusal to share our surplus wealth.
What about us? We may think that, in our society, by no possible measure we can be called rich, and so the story does not apply to us. But we can cling to other things besides money. It may be profitable to ask myself, is there anything at all in my life that I find very difficult to give up if God asked me. It may be a relationship, as status, a position or it might be good health…
If I want to be a disciple of Jesus, he asks us today to follow him unconditionally, without any strings, ready to let go of anything and everything (although he may not actually ask me to do so). It is the readiness that counts. The man in the story did not even seem to have that. Let ask for the grace to be free of attachments.
Reference:
http://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/O1082G/
http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/2012/05/monday-may-28-2012/
Vally Mendonca, SJ
