TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
14 OCTOBER 2018
The
young man in today’s Gospel was definitely attracted to Jesus. He did not stroll up to greet him. He ran and knelt before him. He has listened to Jesus proclaiming the
Kingdom of God and wants to be part of it.
He even calls Jesus good, recognizing his share in the goodness of
God. The young man is sincere in
following a moral life. The commandments
were part of his daily life. But, he
also senses that something is lacking.
Jesus looks at him with love and tells him that is one thing getting
into his way, preventing him from becoming an intentional disciple: his wealth.
This young walks away with great sadness, because he cannot bring
himself to remove the many possessions keeping him from the Kingdom of God.
The
disciples of Jesus had already left everything to follow him. Yet, they are also amazed at his words. In their culture, wealth was seen as a
positive sign of God’s favor. Peter
speaks for the rest when he reminds Jesus that they had already given up
everything to follow him. Jesus points
out that giving everything away opened them to the richness of God’s gifts in
ways that they could never imagine. It
will not be until after his resurrection that they would understand what Jesus
is promising. By proclaiming the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ, these intentional disciples would attract
many more people willing to embrace the kingdom of God in their midst. Even more, they would be part of an eternal
kingdom without end.
We are like
this young man, because we too have approached the Lord Jesus in his real
presence at this Mass. We are also doing
our best to keep the commandments. When
we fail, we have access to the Lord’s mercy in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. We who are blessed with
many possessions want to be part of the Kingdom of God. We also want eternal life.
The Lord
looks at us with love, just as he looked at the young man with love. Without judgment and with love, he speaks the
same word to us. He wants us to take the
next step in becoming more intentional disciples and invites us to remove
whatever is holding us back from becoming more intentional disciples. Could it be that we pray only at Mass on
Sunday, without setting aside time during the week with our family? Could it be that we cannot find time in our
busy schedules to give ourselves in humble service? Could it be that we cling so tightly to our
possessions that we cannot see the need to share a portion of them with
others?
Each of us
must answer these questions in our own unique way. Over the years, I have found the message of
stewardship to be a structured way of becoming a more intentional
disciple. If we regard stewardship as a
way of life, and not just a fund raiser, we can understand the importance of
setting aside time during the week for prayer, becoming more aware that
everything is a gift from God. We can
take another look at our busy schedules and carve out time for humble service. We offer many opportunities to share, not
just within the context of our parish, but also to serve the needs of those who
do not have the blessings that we have.
We can take another look at our possessions and realize that we can set
aside a first and generous portion to give back in gratitude. As a parish, we set aside a first 8 ½ % of
our income to support our sister parish of Saint Adalbert and those who come to
us in need. Our new church is a
testament to those who have been willing to make financial sacrifices for the
good of the community.
When Jesus
challenges us in these ways, we can see the truth of the Letter to the
Hebrews. God’s word is living and
effective. It cuts through us like a
two-edged sword. Don’t be afraid of that
sword cutting through us today. Jesus
Christ loves us and wants us to become more intentional disciples. He will keep his promise and give back more
to us than we can ever give ourselves in terms of prayer, service, and
sacrificial giving.
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