By Colleen O’Sullivan
Indeed, religion with contentment is a great
gain. For we brought nothing into the
world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be
content with that. Those who want to be
rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and
harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all
evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and
have pierced themselves with many pains. (I Timothy 6:6-10)
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to
another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some
women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, (among them) Mary,
called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out. (Luke 8:1-2)
Piety
Yet in no
way can a man redeem himself,
or pay his
own ransom to God;
Too high is
the price to redeem one’s life; he would never have enough
to remain
alive always and not see destruction.
(Psalm 49:8-10)
Study
How true it is that we leave the world just as we
entered it – with nothing in the way of money or material goods. My mother has been gone for almost four years
and my father is entering hospice tomorrow.
He will never live in his home of 58 years in Delaware again. My sister, along with her children and
friends, took upon herself the project of cleaning the house out over the
summer so it can be put on the market.
My mother always kept it looking like something out of a magazine –
nothing out of place, no extraneous items sitting around here or there. So it was somewhat surprising to discover how
much stuff my parents managed to squirrel away out of sight. There were even maintenance manuals to every
car they’d owned over 60 years of marriage as well as old J.C. Penney Co. catalogs
dated prior to 2000 neatly stored in the basement!
All of a sudden I’ve been looking at myself and all
the things I own in a different light.
Do I really need all of it? As we
read in the first Scripture, our needs are fairly basic – food and clothing. I would add shelter and employment to the list. But when I look around, especially when I
imagine someone having to clean out my possessions at the end of my
life, I’m afraid that person might say, “She really didn’t know the difference
between needs and wants!”
We can’t take our money or anything our money has
purchased with us when we depart this life.
But there is one thing that stays with us, our relationship with
Jesus. Mary Magdelene could tell us
something about that. Worth more than
all the gold and silver in the world is what Jesus offers us – release from the
burden of our sins, forgiveness and mercy, a chance for a new life with
him. Mary will never forget or cease to
be grateful for what Jesus has done for her.
The close relationship she enjoyed with the Lord in this life I’m sure
continued as she was received into the arms of Christ for all eternity. That kind of inner peace and joy cannot be
had for any sum of money.
So why not give up the worship of money and worldly
goods and give our loyalty instead to the One whose gift is everlasting?
Action
In an address in Bolivia in July, Pope Frances stated: And behind all this pain, death and destruction there is
the stench of what Basil of Caesarea – one of the first theologians of the
Church – called “the dung of the devil”. An unfettered pursuit of money rules.
This is the “dung of the devil.” Pope Francis was talking specifically in
reference to the world’s ecosystem, but that phrase, “the unfettered pursuit of
money,” could be applied to many facets of our lives, including our personal
wealth and accumulation of material goods.
Take a few minutes to imagine someone cleaning out your house and
wrapping up your finances and legal affairs after your death. It might make you squirm, because not many of
us want to think about dying, but the bottom line is it will happen to all of
us. What impression would that person
walk away with? Who would they say is
our God – the modern version of the golden calf, money, or our Lord Jesus
Christ?
No comments:
Post a Comment