Cycle B - Year I

11 October 2015: Twenty-eight Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Liturgical color: Green)

Gospel: Please read Mark 10:17-30


Giving up everything....

A young man who had the best the world could offer wanted to have a complete control of his future. So one day he asked, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

The Teacher told the young man to know all of God's commandments.

The young man replied, "All of God's commandments I have observed from my youth."

"You are lacking in one thing," said the Teacher. "Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

That, in gist, is the conversation between our Lord Jesus and a young man in this Sunday's Gospel narrative. The story ends with the young man walking away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus uses this encounter with the young man to teach some important lessons to his followers about the kingdom of God, and how we can enter it.

We know, of course, that it is impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom without God's grace. So on our own we cannot do it.

In the Gospel incident, it is even harder for those with wealth to enter God's kingdom. And why is this so? Pride might be the main reason. For wealth can make one feel falsely independent, without need of God's grace. It can lead one to possessiveness and selfishness.

Wealth can also be distracting. Why? Because we spend our energies chasing money and the pleasures it provides, rather than investing our lives into heavenly treasure.

That is why Jesus warns us about the danger of richness. But then, was our Lord really against wealth? Well, we know that Jesus was not opposed to wealth per se, nor was He against the wealthy. He had many friends who were well-to-do, including some notorious tax collectors. In fact, one even became an apostle.

The central message of this Sunday's Gospel is that life is more than food, the body more than clothing, and that happiness does not depend on earthly possessions. Jesus invites us instead to stores up "treasures in heaven" where our hearts will have rest and peace.  Jesus Christ Himself is the greatest treasure we can have. And giving up everything else to have the Lord as our treasure is the greatest joy.

This Sunday is also  Indigenous Peoples' Sunday and Extreme Poverty Day. Celebrating this special theme does not mean the Church "glorifies" poverty. It simply means that we must remember in our prayers our own tribal and poor Filipinos, and contribute or do something about their aspirations for improvement of their material and cultural conditions.

For in the words of Pope Francis, "You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That is how prayer works."

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.


Ad Jesum per Mariam!