Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 14, 2018 - 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Wis 7:7-11; Heb 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30 or 10:17-27]Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God." [Mark]
Many years ago, when I was an undergraduate student at Tulane, I lived in a large dormitory and met a lot of students from different parts of the country. Many of them came from fairly wealthy circumstances - certainly more wealthy than mine, although my parents provided well for their children in the way of education and nurturing. The one thing I noticed about many of these guys was that they seemed chronically unhappy. That was one of the insights that started me thinking about entering religious life. If wealth and material goods did not bring happiness, what would?
The story of the rich man who has everything and comes to Jesus to see what needs to be done to obtain eternal life - the one thing that he (the rich man) had not yet obtained - is as challenging today as it was then! It is clear that he was not expecting Jesus' response because "he went away sad, for he had many possessions." Jesus assures him that he can have eternal life, but to do that he had to follow Jesus, and to follow Jesus, he had to give up his wealth.
This weekend, the Catholic Student Center here at Texas Tech is holding a retreat called "Raider Awakening." This form of retreat is used widely in campus ministry and is fairly intense. The student participants are challenged to ask themselves what is truly important and will bring happiness. The amazed response of Jesus' disciples to his advice to the rich man tells us that they, too, thought wealth was a great blessing and may have looked with a bit of envy at that rich man. Jesus tells them bluntly that wealth will not save them. Only God can do that. He promises them that by giving up everything to follow him, they will be rewarded with many more "houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come." For the students on the retreat, letting go of what they may perceive as wealth will be a big challenge. After all, they are going to the university to gain resources that will enable them to do materially well. Jesus' promise may seem too speculative. I can only say from my personal experience that that promise is not speculative. They don't have to enter religious life to obtain that promise. They just have to get their priorities right and not allow material gain to dominate them. Discipleship does not come cheap, but the alternative(s) are not going to satisfy in any ultimate way. AMEN