28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A Reflection by Fr. Leo

“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”  The disciples were shocked by these words from Jesus.  They would have assumed that those with wealth were the favored of God.  We see a bit of this in the life of some Evangelical Preachers.  They have the great homes, cars, handmade suits and hands heavy with diamonds.  For them it is an outward sign of God’s blessing upon them and a reason their flocks can trust in them and support them.  When in reality it is big business for some.

Jesus told his disciples to go out without a second tunic and stay in whatever houses that received them and not to move to a better one when a better offer came up.  Jesus redefines what it means to be rich in spiritual terms.  He preached a poverty that lead to spiritual richness with his life and his words.  He emptied himself and took on human form and died in poverty to make love the foundation of our lives and the true currency of the spiritual life.

The disciples are affirmed from leaving all and gaining a church of brothers and sisters and the riches that come from a communal life.  Following their example is hard for us as Americans, who have had a certain rugged individualism drummed into us, that leaves us separated and alone rather than connected and sharing with others.  As families we get the joy of sacrificing for each other, but beyond that it is a stretch for us, at least for me, to be as generous in spirit to all.

The Church is to be a community that exports God’s love for others physically, emotionally and spiritually.  This is modeled for us through Pope Francis.  He is living our social teaching by welcoming the immigrant, feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless.  He is not staying in the comfort of his ‘palace.”  He is taking on the odor of his sheep and embracing all who come his way.  But we must remember that he is setting an example for what we are all called to do, and if more people were doing the same, we wouldn’t have to be falling all over the Pope as much as we do.  We wouldn’t need to.  We can laud him, yes, but we can’t let that take the place of our own living of God’s charity. 

For us, a good place to start might be to take the example given in our first reading from the Book of Wisdom and pray for prudence and wisdom and to prefer her to all else.  Then we will receive the fulness of riches from her hands.