Word to the Wise
Friday, September 17, 2021 - Friday in the 24th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Tim 6:2c-12 and Luke 8:1-3]For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it.... Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses. [1 Timothy]
My two principal ministries as an ordained Dominican friar over 50+ years have been campus ministry and itinerant preaching of parish missions and retreats. These two ministries have given me a kind of "before and after" view of faith development. In campus ministry, I see the "before" of dreams and ambitions. In itinerant ministry, which has taken me all over the USA, I have been able to witness how those dreams and ambitions have fared in the world after college! Indeed, many of my former student parishioners are now grandparents!
The passage from the First Letter to Timothy is like an encouraging "pep talk" to a new young Christian. It opens up the relationship between faith and lifestyle with an interesting warning: "For we brought nothing into the word, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it." This is followed by a well-known phrase: "For the love of money is the root of all evils...." Worries about money (or the lack of it) can start early in life and leave different marks. Those who have had to earn every dollar see money differently from those who have been given whatever they needed financially. In preparing couples for matrimony, I call attention to those different ways of seeing the role of money. For many students, the reality of student loans haunts their years of undergraduate and professional education. When marriage and family become a part of the picture, the concerns multiply. How does one keep one's head above the waters of money to embrace a lifestyle that Timothy is exhorted to adopt:? But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Learning what is sufficient and needed and "enough" takes a long time, but the gospel summons us to that effort. Today's gospel passage shows Jesus as an itinerant preacher, relying on his disciples for daily sustenance. Those disciples, many of them women, saw where their resources could make a difference in the world. That is what Timothy and all of us are called to strive for. AMEN