Word to the Wise
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 - Tuesday in the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
[Sir 35:1-12 and Mark 10:28-31]Give to the Most High as he has given to you, generously, according to your means. For the Lord is one who always repays, and he will give back to you sevenfold. [Sirach]
Peter responds to Jesus' statements about wealth being an obstacle to inheriting the kingdom by saying, "We have given up everything and followed you!" The implication is: "What's in it for us?" Jesus responds in the passage quoted above. The Book of Sirach today praises generosity as long as the person who is giving to God is someone who is living a righteous life. The man with many possessions has gone away sad, and the disciples are trying to figure out what the future may be. However, the gospel reflects what was going on at the time it was composed. Those "persecutions" would mean the loss of everything, so the context was a verey real one and not just an idealistic vision! If we pay attention to the news, we know that just being a Christian can result in one's house being burned down and one's church being destroyed by a bomb in some places today!
Ultimately there can only be faith between us and God. It is that powerful love that created us and draws us into a reality far more important than any possession. Until the emperor, Constantine, "legalized" the Christian faith in the 4th century AD, there was always a fear that official persecution could break out at any time. What can sustain one in that circumstance? What gun or bomb can guarantee life, especially eternal life? We have to start and end in faith. God will see to the rest. The disciples, the man with those possessions, and all the rest of us are going to find this a big challenge. Can we take Jesus at his word? AMEN