Twenty-Eighth Sunday Ordinary Time – Deacon Pat
One of the many struggles
of sharing the gospels, the good news of becoming a Christian with someone, is
getting them to see that there is a cost of making the decision to become a
disciple of Christ.
So often, the focus is
more on the reward that awaits them, and they never stop to think about what
this decision will cost.
When someone does not
understand the price to be paid when choosing to become a Christian,
difficulties will arise when they find themselves in situations that are
demanding, situations that can eventually cost them a great deal.
It is in such times that
one’s faith is put to the test.
In these circumstances, some disciples turn from the path of righteousness and head back into the world from which they had escaped.
In the Gospel today, we
can see just such a situation when Jesus is approached by a young man who seems
to be interested in doing what is right in regards to salvation.
Jesus tells the young man
that there is a price to be paid if he chooses to take the path he is seeking,
and in the end, we see that the young man was not willing to make the sacrifice
necessary to inherit eternal life.
In this story, we learn
that being a disciple of Christ will cost us everything that keeps God from
being first in our lives.
We also learn a lot about
the man who approached Christ.
We learn that he was
following the rules, but that he probably did not truly understand what was
beneath the rules, the reason for the rule.
He runs up to Jesus and
says, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He did not say, “Who must
I become to inherit eternal life?”
Perhaps, this young man
already felt that he was doing all that was required of him by following the
rules, and he only wanted Jesus to confirm what he was already doing.
He did not actually
expect Jesus to tell him to do anything beyond the law, beyond the rules.
In addition, when Jesus
asked more of him, he refused because that was not what he wanted to hear.
How many of us are just
like this young man?
We do what we think is
expected of us, we follow the rules, or maybe most of them, but don’t let Jesus
ask anything more of us, or we too might refuse.
Didn’t Christ tell us
that to be a Christian we cannot serve two masters, we serve either God or
mammon, but we can’t serve both.
In the Gospel, the young
man had two masters speaking to him:
·
God in the flesh told him to sell
everything;
·
Mammon (The World) told him to hold onto
what he had.
He couldn’t do both, so
he chose to submit to the one he valued the most.
The man went away grieved.
As far as he was concerned,
the choice to follow Christ was just too costly.
Many of us come to Mass
to hear the word of God and focus on the promises of eternal life.
Most of us see ourselves
as basically good people, believing our lives are morally good, and when we
pray to God, we often ask for guidance and direction to make our lives better.
Yet, we are often caught
off guard when we find that Jesus desires more than we are giving, that he
desires all that we have, all that would stand in the way of serving God.
So, what do we do?
Some of us, many of us,
turn away from what He is asking.
In other words, is it not
true that many of us really are not seeking to change much in our lives at all?
We seek God to only
confirm what we are already doing, maybe only to have Him acknowledge the rules
that we have followed.
Are not many of us just
like the young man in the gospel message?
But what is Christ trying
to teach us?
What is the message for us
today?
Isn’t he trying to say
that our faith is much more than just following a set of rules?
Being a Christian will
actually cost us everything that keeps God from being first in our lives.
As with the young man, it
was not his wealth that was the problem, but rather the value he placed on it.
Jesus never said it was
sinful to be wealthy, but he did warn us of what riches, or the pursuit of,
might do.
What Jesus did, was
simply state that there was one thing this young man lacked:
Jesus
looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing, Go, sell
what you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven:
then come, follow me.
Consider this, to lack
something means something is missing, but Jesus tells him to get rid of
something.
Yet, it is in the getting
rid of something that Jesus says he will find the means to get something.
What this young man
needed was to love God above all other things.
It was here that he would
find eternal life.
How many of us need to
get rid of something to get something?
Confusing, isn’t it?
How many of us completely
understand Christ and his teachings for us?
Can we rightly say that
we understand our faith as well as we should?
How many of us know not
only what the church teaches, but also why it teaches what it does?
I believe that if more of
us knew the “why” of what our church taught, and not just the “what”, our
catholic church especially here in America would look much different.
So where do we begin to
grow in our understanding of the faith?
Well, we have many
options.
We can read the church
documents, such as the documents from Vatican II, or the Catechism of the
Catholic Church.
We can visit trusted
internet sites, listen to podcasts, or we can attend classes.
Our parish offers a
variety of opportunities just look in the bulletin or listen to the invitations
shared in the announcements.
There is also ACTS for
men and women.
And for the men especially
of the parish, we have “That Man is
You” which has been life-changing for thousands across our nation.
In closing, I have two final
questions for all of us to prayerfully consider. They are:
·
What must I do to inherit eternal life?
·
And Who must I become to inherit eternal life?
I challenge you as I
challenge myself to honestly and humbly ask Christ these two important
questions and then to listen to his response in the quiet of our hearts?
Once the response is heard,
we will then have a choice to make.
·
To act with all of our heart and soul?
·
Or to be like the young man in the gospel
message today, ask the question but find Christ’s response to be too costly,
and just walk away?
The Choice is ours.....
It’s called, “OUR FREE-WILL.”
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