Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - Tuesday in the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezek 28:1-10 and Matt 19:23-30]And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.
When I was a student brother (seminarian) and our community received something from a benefactor that was unusually nice, we would sometimes say, "It's all part of the hundredfold." The words of Jesus from today's gospel scripture follow on the incident with the rich young man. Jesus sees him walk away and comments on the problems that wealthy people may have in accepting the kingdom of heaven. The disciples are amazed by this since the common belief of the time was that wealth was a great blessing! This leads Peter to ask in his usual impulsive way: "We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?" Jesus promises the apostles a special role in the kingdom, and then promises all disciples that giving up all that is precious to them to follow him will result in wealth a hundred times greater, as well as eternal life.
It is difficult to measure the greatest rewards of faith. Much of it is intangible and invisible. Yes, there are physical manifestations of the generosity of benefactors to the church or religious congregations or in terms of hospitals and other helpful institutions. Since Jesus had just advised the young man to discard his physical wealth, it is not that kind of reward that he has in mind. I can only speak from my own experience. One of the motivating factors in my initial interest in religious life was the unhappiness that I saw in some of the wealthiest of my fellow students in the dormitory at Tulane. I concluded that pursuing wealth would not make me happier. I did not lack for anything in my family, nor were we wealthy in our own eyes. Nevertheless I felt then that my faith required that I undertake a following of Christ that would mean I could never truly own anything. That is our Dominican way and it is the way of many religious orders. I have not lacked for any necessities in religious life but the rewards are far more intangible than tangible. Again, any disciple can take Jesus' promise and apply it to his or her own life. AMEN
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