💖 HOMILY - AUGUST 21 💖

First Reading - Judges 2:11-19

Gospel - Matthew 19:16-22

Today’s Gospel reminds us that we do not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord. Rather, it often possesses us, and we become the prisoner of our possessions, violating the First Commandment, which demands that we give unconditional priority to God. Jesus reminds the rich young man of the Commandments that deal with his relationships with other people and challenges him to sell what he has and give it to the poor. Jesus’ challenge exposed what was missing in the young man’s life: a sense of compassion for the poor and the willingness to share his blessings with the needy.

The incident of the rich, young ruler: The rich young man who came to Jesus in search of eternal life really wanted to be accepted by Jesus as a disciple. The young man claimed that from childhood he had observed all the Commandments Jesus mentioned. His tragedy, however, was that he loved “things” more than people, and his possessions “possessed him.” Jesus told him that keeping the Commandments, while enough for salvation, was not enough for perfection and challenged him to share his riches with the poor. “There is one thing lacking. Sell all you have and give to the poor, and then you will have real treasure. After that, come and be with me.” Jesus asked him to break his selfish attachment to wealth by sharing it. But “when the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” (This young man has become a symbol of the kind of Christian whose mediocrity and shortsightedness prevent him from turning his life into a generous, fruitful self-giving to the service of God and neighbour).

Dear friends, Jesus makes the same challenge to each of us today. Our following of Jesus has to be totally and absolutely unconditional. Our attachment may not be to money or material goods, but to another person, a job, one’s health, or one’s reputation. We must be ready to cut off any such attachment in order to become true Christian disciples, sharing our blessings with others. 

To follow Jesus, we must have generous hearts and the willingness to share our blessings with others to show our generosity. St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) puts it in her own style: “Do SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL for God. Do it with your life. Do it every day. Do it in your own way. But do it!”