1. What Do You Lack?
2. The Lord Invites You
Introduction
1. What Do You Lack?
Today the word of God challenges us: in what do you put your heart? Where is your security? What makes your life valuable and worthwhile? Here comes the advice of God’s word and wisdom as early as the Old Testament and here comes Jesus’ warning: Do not put your heart in possessions for they will become your masters. Let God be your Lord. Let it be Jesus whom we follow.
2. The Lord Invites You
How happy are we when once in a while the Lord invites us to encounter him on a deeper level beyond the banality of life, be it in prayer, in listening to the word he speaks to us, in our thanksgiving after communion, in admiring the beauty of his creation. When we really encounter him he changes us, for known or unknown to us he invites us to follow him more radically. But we can refuse the invitation. It saddens him, for he loves us. Let us ask the Lord here in the Eucharist that we may always follow his call and invitation.
First Reading: Wise with God’s Wisdom
More precious than power, riches, health and beauty is the wisdom that comes from God. It make us live in God’s love.
1 Reading Wisdom 7:7-11
I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.
Responsorial Psalm PS 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Second Reading: God’s Word Is Living and Effective
God’s Word is upsetting. It forces us to face ourselves and to make a choice, for or against God. It is decisive for the outcome of our lives.
2 Reading Hebrews 4:12-13
Brothers and sisters:
He “for a little while” was made “lower than the angels, ”
that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
For it was fitting that he,
for whom and through whom all things exist,
in bringing many children to glory,
should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.
He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated
all have one origin.
Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them “brothers.”
Alleluia Matthew 5:3
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Come, Follow Me without Useless Baggage
Like the rich man, we have not given anything to God if we do not answer his invitation to follow him the way he wants us to.
Gospel Mark 10:17-30
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother.”
He replied and said to him,
“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”
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!”
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
“Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”
Peter began to say to him,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Commentary
For the Jews of Jesus’ time and most Africans of today, wealth, especially, stupendous richness, is a sign of God’s blessing. Hence, the utterance of Jesus as regards the difficulty of rich people entering into heaven. Their fear is not strange. No one prays for poverty. Thus, over 90% go to Church and prayer meetings praying for riches and casting into the abyss the ‘spirit of poverty’. Holy Ghooooost Fire! Not my portion… is a constant prayer point. But the lure of riches and lust for money Jesus referred to as Mammon. He had warned, “You cannot serve God and Mammon” (Mt 6:24). We combine these today.
Just watch us! We become very skilled at keeping them in combination. Sometimes we are capable of using God as a cover for our worship of Mammon. More commonly we serve God, as we imagine, but with the mind of Mammon, calculating in every area of life as if everything were money and bargains (Nigerian movies). This is the new paganism. The God of Jesus is a jealous one (Ex 20:5). He demands unalloyed attention, total worship to him by those who call themselves followers of Jesus. Sell everything (including sin), even when no buyer appears, dump it into the refuse bin, and follow the Master. That’s the road to His kingdom. Note the underpinning action words: Go…Sell…Give…Come…Follow!
Blessing
Christ and his Gospel keep challenging us
not to seek contentment and safety
in the things we have, our own little worlds,
not even in self-congratulations
for having obeyed God’s commandments.
If we want to be really happy
with a joy which nobody can rob from us,
we must learn from Jesus
to give ourselves without reserve
to God and the people around us.
They are our riches and security.
May God give you this wisdom and strength:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go and follow the Lord
every day that he gives you.
R/ Thanks be to God.