When Jesus tells His
disciples “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of
God,” to whom is He referring? St. Luke tells us of several women who provided
for Jesus and His ministry out of their means (Luke 8:3), so we know that He is
not condemning people who had an abundance of material goods.
As illustrated in
today’s Gospel it is an attachment to wealth that presents an obstacle to
eternal life. This is the consistent teaching throughout scripture. It is love
of money that is the root of all evil (1Timothy 6:10.) The Psalms tells us
“Though wealth increase, do not set your heart upon it (Psalms 62:11.) And it
is not enough to simply disdain riches. Jesus tells the young man to sell what
he has but also then to go further and give to the poor, to give “for my sake
and the sake of the Gospel.”
People may be
wealthy without clinging to their goods, just as someone can be poor and refuse
to give up what little they have. God can demand a great deal from us,
sometimes He can demand everything.
Many of us are going
through tough times these days. We are now aware of just how hard it is to
trust in God and His salvific plan. Remember that He loves us and wants what is
best for us. Can we accept His plan even if it is not the one we would have
liked?
Pax Vobiscum
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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