23rd Sunday - Fr. Leo
“In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple” (LK 14:33)
Luke’s gospel seems to suggest that we live in two worlds at the same time. We live as humans on planet earth and as disciples of Christ we begin to live in another world not made my human hands. Early in the spiritual journey, it may feel like dualism, but further down the road it simply becomes two sides of one God-man reality.
Humility is the grace that unifies our living in God and our living in this world created by God. The soul that experiences the power of God’s Spirit knows that we existed before our birth in this earthly dimension and that after our death we will return to a life without time and space. How we live now, how we open ourselves to the spirit while on earth, will shape our relationship with the eternal God after bodily death.
The only way to share in God’s divinity, is to seek God before all else. This explains the seemingly harsh sentence quoted at the beginning of this reflection. Monks and hermits give us an example of absolute seeking of the world to come. They leave the “world” to dwell in another. To some extent, we all need to do as they have done and do to this day. However, this does not mean that material things are bad. It is our attitude toward them that can close our hearts to the divine.
Lazarus is an example. His being materially rich was more important to him than helping the poor man at his door to whom the dogs showed more compassion. What determines our living well in God in this world is our desire to share in his divinity. With this grace, the life of God becomes more important to us than all else and that realization directs how we live.
God will never push himself on us, but at the same time will never abandon us. God’s greatest desire is for us to share in the fullness of God’s divinity. So then, let us pray constantly for the gift of the Holy Spirit that we may seek God and desire God’s love more than anything else. When we do, all of life becomes gift, and each breath a reminder of God’s eternal providence.