TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
10 OCTOBER 2021
This
young man is probably a well-respected member of his society. The disciples of Jesus more than likely look
at him with admiration. He had been
blessed with wealth from God. He
practices his faith, taking seriously the commandments. Yet, he senses that something is
lacking. He wants to know what else he
must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus
looks at him with love. Then, he gives
him three more commandments. Go. Sell what you have. Give to the poor. Once he has followed these commandments, he
will have treasure in heaven and follow Jesus.
The young man is very sad and walks away. He is too attached to his many
possessions. They are more important to
him than becoming a disciple and following Jesus.
The
disciples are also stunned at their master’s response. They are accustomed to seeing wealth as a
sign of favor from God. They have
already given up everything – their fishing boats, families, all their
possessions, to follow Jesus. They
respond to Jesus’ talk of the dangers of wealth by asking, “Then who can be
saved?” Jesus responds that no one
inherits or earns eternal life. Only God
can give the gift of salvation. They
need to move beyond the idea of “giving something up.” We learn that from our Lenten
disciplines. “Giving something up” might
be a good first step in growing closer to the Lord. But we need to take further steps to make
sure that we are investing not only in the present age, but also in the age to
come. In time, the disciples will understand why wealth can be a danger to
salvation. Wealthy people can rely so
much on their own comfort that they forget that sharing wealth in this age is
an investment in the age to come. Like
the young man, they might sense that something is missing and accumulate more
stuff to think that more wealth means more security.
Jesus
speaks these same words to us, who are blessed with many possessions. Answering his call to “come follow me” means
giving up much – and gaining even more.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola said that we can transition into a deeper
relationship with Jesus Christ by developing what he called “holy
indifference.” Holy indifference gives
us the freedom to love God above all else.
If we learn to practice holy indifference, we still care about the
things of this world – people, places, objects, experiences. But we are detached enough that we can leave
behind the things that pull us away from God.
We can take a step in faith and increase our trust in God’s love and care
for us. That is embracing stewardship as
a way of life provides a structured way of being intentional disciples. As good stewards, we can invest in the things
that bring us closer to God, not only in this life, but also in the next.
The rich
young man may have obeyed important commandments. But his focus is on himself: “…all of these I have observed from my youth” and “…what must I do to inherit eternal life.
Despite his good intentions, he cannot achieve salvation on his
own. He relies on himself, rather than
on God. He believes that salvation is
yet another possession to gain, rather than a gift to inherit. Jesus turns the young man’s focus back to
relationships. God will bring about
eternal life. Giving to the poor will
lead to treasure in heaven.
Thomas
Merton wrote: “People may spend their
whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the
top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” Our goal is to learn to be utterly dependent
on God, who alone gives us the gift of eternal life. With the spirit of holy indifference, we can
make sure that our ladder is leaning against the wall that leads us to Jesus
Christ. With the spirit of holy
indifference, we can let go of whatever stands in the way of our relationship
with the Lord and give it away. Then we
can expect much more in return, in this age, and in the age to come.
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