Does God want you to be rich?
(09-27-2009)
Jesus might answer by asking: Where is your heart?
If we use our blessings to help persons less fortunate, God wants us to have the means to assist them. But if our heart is bent on making us rich to satisfy wants, we may come up empty in life and hollow in soul.
Speaking of hollow, the image on the front of Time magazine shows a merging of a materialistic ideal-- a Rolls Royce with a cross for a hood ornament—a clashing of not only symbols, but a way of life. A Dominican priest, now deceased, once said that, “when the crucifix becomes beautiful jewelry--an adornment we no longer see it as sacrificial love—its meaning disappears—and so can Jesus.”
For our formation in Jesus serves as a reminder and contradiction to the often vacuous—empty headed hedonistic message of the world. We are IN the world to make it better, we are not OF the world ---to soak it up and horde material gains. I believe this is the most difficult of all teachings for all of us –including clergy and church hierarchy.
How we live with our material needs versus wants reflects how we address all aspects of our moral life in Christ. Think about that. If I am going after money and fame for the sake of self aggrandizement, my personal gratification, what sort of decisions will I make about the needs of others—even in my own family. I know about that all too well from my own earlier life experiences—it was all about me. Abortion, death penalty, euthanasia, assisted suicide—those were all issues out there somewhere for someone else to resolve.
It is easy to fall into the temptations, to become so comfortable that we convince ourselves that our wants are necessities. We can slip away easily and become disconnected from the gospel call of Jesus. We can be out of touch about moral rights of others, issues around injustice, and care for those less fortunate. Oh, I’ll get to them later, when I have time, when I retire—what we really mean is- when and if convenient.
Indifference--Jesus addresses such self-centered blindness and greed in our gospel this weekend: “If your hand causes you to sin cut it off!” And he goes on to other body parts we should maim because we grow indifferent to his call to share our blessings and help the little ones—those suffering materially.
The month of October has a particular focus on such actions by us and all of the Church with “Respect Life Month” —not that we should do so for one month only, but all of our lives. Inserted in our bulletin is a summary of Church teachings and clarity of our moral position, prayers and aspects of what it means to be a Catholic Christian in light of the challenges to humanity from womb to natural death.
The gift of the spirit in us means that we witness love and life and the deepest ways we can. All of the actions and words of Jesus cannot be simply left to church leaders, ministry workers, catechists. It is all of our responsibility. We are to care less about what we can accumulate than what we can share with Jesus.
There is a wonderful prayer card that I’m certain many of you have seen. It’s an image of Jesus standing outside a door over-grown with ivy. There is no door knocker, no handle on the outside where he is standing—yet it is apparent he is knocking and waiting. Jesus stands there with his lantern of light and hope and knocks, but there is no way for him to enter unless someone on the other side of the door decides to open it and let him in. The painting is titled, “The Light of the World.” by William Holden Hunt (1827-1910). The original painting was sent on tour and became so popular that Hunt was asked to paint a larger version and it was presented to St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
After many years, and a great deal of city dirt, the painting was taken out of its frame to be cleaned and the restorers discovered what the artist hid by the frame --more than likely did not intend anyone to see. He had written the words, “Forgive me, Lord Jesus, that I kept you waiting so long!”
It is that same spirit we are called to find within ourselves—the one of answering the knock of Jesus on the doors of our hearts. To see him in those who are in need of our help and eliminate the suffering that is within our healing reach by sharing our blessings and speaking up to protect those with little or no voice—that is the richness that matters and the treasure than never disappears!
Blessings, Fr. Gordon
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