Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Wisdom 7: 7-11
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:12-13
Gospel: Mark 10:17-30
The first reading today exalts the gift of Wisdom which is different from intellectual knowledge. True Wisdom is necessary if man is to discern the deep meaning of life and attain his ultimate goal in the world to come. That is the kind of Wisdom is praying for and prefers to all the riches in the world. He said, “I pleaded and the Spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and I deemed riches nothing in comparison to her. Nothing can compare with the Wisdom of God that gives meaning to our lives. Solomon loved wisdom above all things and choose her before all everything else. He says, “yet all things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.”
Jesus Christ is the divine wisdom. In Him, the wisdom hidden from all eternity has been revealed and available to all men and women who open their hearts to Him, who seek Him with sincerity of heart and who prefer Him to scepter and throne, riches and everything else in this world. To possess Jesus is to possess everything. We commit the greatest folly whenever we choose some worldly good in place of Jesus, be it honor, wealth, good health, a friend, anything at all. Nothing can be better than the one who is the source of all good, who gives meaning to our existence.
One of the things that strikes me each time I read the story of the rich young man who tragically preferred his worldly goods to Jesus is that he had meticulously kept the commandments from his early years, yet he knew he was lacking something. Unlike the Pharisees who like to entrap Jesus, he sincerely wanted to know. Sadly, Jesus’ answer crushes him. “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” The Gospel said, he went away sad because he is a man of great possessions. He knows in his heart that he is preferring his possessions and the security it represents to Jesus. He turns his back on the one thing that can satisfy and make him happy, and give meaning to his life, Jesus Christ.
In all the major religions of the world except perhaps modern Pentecostal Christianity, the effort to limit quest for worldly goods and practice detachment is given a special importance. The reason is because possessions and the quest for riches easily become the greatest obstacle in man’s quest for God. Possessions easily lead to attachment; attachments lead to greed and more craving. In the end, a vicious circle is formed which enslaves man depriving him of contentment and inner peace.
The French have a story of a very rich ruler who spent his days in his palace counting his gold. Beside the palace was a poor cobbler who was always joyful and spent his days singing as he repaired people’s shoes. The joyful singing of the cobbler irritated the rich ruler. One day he decided to give some gold coins to the cobbler. He gave him some gold coins and the cobbler was overjoyed. He took the coins and hid them. Frequently, he will get worried and go back to check if the coins were still there. Then he will worry if someone had seen him go to check the coins, then out of anxiety, he would go and remove he coins and hide hem in another place. During this time, he slowly stopped singing. He realized that he had lost his joy. One day he got up, took the gold coins and went back to the rich man and said, “take back your coins and give me back my songs.”
Wealth is a blessing, but it has its curse. The curse behind any kind of possession is its capacity to steal our hearts and souls and enslave them. The rich young man in our Gospel today wants eternal life but he is unwilling to part with his possession. How often are we like this pitiable man? How often have we preferred something else to the love and friendship of Jesus? The Gospel today challenges us face up to our unwillingness to relinquish our attachments that prevent us from belonging totally to Jesus.
Reflect today, is there anything you are so unwilling to give up that you will rather loose Jesus? The Gospel today invites us to a life of renunciation as a means of attaining the greatest possible good, God Himself. But more important, is not just a means, but a consequence of faith in Jesus Christ who is the source and the fullness and source of all riches. This faith discovery opens us up to that which only God can give, eternal life.
Happy Sunday
Rev. Fr. Chidi Onwuka MSSCC