Month: August 2021

Is Jesus asking us to renounce all our worldly goods? Maybe. Jesus suggests the ideal, give up house and family and land for his name. He certainly would like us to be less attached to them in return for the promise of eternal life. Jesus wants us to know the ideal and do our best to live it out. And we live it out in the world, with families and jobs and things we need and use. How do we use our worldly goods? Do we take care of them and keep them in their proper place? For example, when it’s time to consider purchasing a new car do you want the latest and greatest model with all the possible upgrades, never considering purchasing an older or used model? 

Or how about that smartphone? Is it traded in every time you can upgrade, or do you use it until it is necessary to purchase a new one?

Let’s face it, we live in a world where consumerism can be a way of life and this will not help us get to heaven. St. Ignatius taught frequently about detachment, not only from things but from desiring specific outcomes. In the Spiritual Exercises, he offers these thoughts, “I desire and choose poverty with Christ poor rather than wealth; contempt with Christ laden with it rather than honors. Even further, I desire to be regarded as a useless fool for Christ, who before me was regarded as such, rather than as a wise or prudent person in this world.” (Spiritual Exercises #167)

St. Ignatius was not the only saint to suggest we give up the trappings of the world; St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Maximillian Kolbe – the list is really endless, since all saints give up themselves for the greater good of the glory of God.

This is the question this Gospel raises in me; am I holding on so tightly to my things, my needs, my desires that I am missing what God wants to give me? Consider that as you go about your day and see what happens. And, if you’d like to chat about it, email me.

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There are definitely no minced words in today’s readings. The children of Israel began serving other gods, so the Lord got angry with them and allowed them to suffer disastrous consequences.

In the Gospel, a young man asks what more he can do and Jesus tells Him to give up everything and follow Him. Jesus does not congratulate him for following the commandments, nor does He say, “Oh alright, you are already such a good guy, you win a free ticket to heaven!” 

No, Jesus speaks the truth in justice. Sometimes what He says is not such music to our ears. Sometimes it is more like a clashing gong. 

Yet we know that his promises are true. We know that what He says, what He asks us to do, is for our own good, for our own ultimate good, for our eternal salvation. 

As parents, we often have to tell our children what they do not want to hear. We often have to limit sweets, screen time, and other “fun” things in order to teach them self-control and how to take care of themselves. We have to show them how to take turns with their siblings, how to share, how to conduct themselves with good manners, etc. None of this is easy for them to hear. Much of it probably does not sound fair. And if they do not obey, they too have consequences. 

Yet as they grow, they also realize that what we have attempted to teach them in these not so pleasant moments is ultimately for their own good as well. They may rebel as the children of Israel did, or they may think they are already good enough as the man in the Gospel did. In the end, only God is their judge. 

Today, let us ask God not to mince words with us but to tell us directly what more we should do to love and serve Him more fully, more completely and more purely.

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