“Giving Up Everything to Gain Something Greater” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Giving Up Everything to Gain Something Greater” by Colleen O’Sullivan

 

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

 

In a generous spirit, pay homage to the LORD, be not sparing of freewill gifts.  With each contribution, show a cheerful countenance, and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.  Give to the Most High as he has given to you generously, according to your means.  For the LORD is one who always repays, and he will give back to you seven-fold.  (Sirach 35:10-13)

 

Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘We have given up everything and followed you.”  Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:  houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.  But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Mark 10:28-31)

Piety

Lord, pry our fingers away from the things of this world.  As you do, whisper into the ears of our hearts a reminder of the abundant and eternal life you have placed before us. 

Study

Before today’s Gospel reading, Jesus encounters the wealthy young man who wants to know what he needs to do to gain eternal life.  Jesus ascertains that this person follows the commandments.  So, the Lord says there’s just one thing left for him to do, and that is to sell all his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.  Of course, that is the one thing that the young person simply can’t bear to do, so he walks away feeling dejected.

After that encounter, Peter begins telling Jesus that the disciples have given up everything to follow him.  Jesus acknowledges that, remembering the livelihoods earned from fishing, government work such as tax collecting, etc., that his disciples have walked away from to follow him.  Jesus reminds them that this sacrifice will not go unrewarded.  As part of the Christian community, they will find a more extensive family comprised of all believers.  On top of that, they will have eternal life.  Jesus’ final remark about the first being last and the last being first may be a way of saying there will be no first or last.  All will be equal in God’s Kingdom.

In its earliest days, members of the Church lived as if everyone was equally important in God’s eyes.  In Acts 2:42-47, we read: 

 

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Unless you live in a religious community that holds all property in common, life today is about as far from that snapshot of first-century Christian living as it could be.  So how did we get from that life of sharing everything to the way you and I live today?  I suspect one reason is that we’re more like James and John (as well as their mother) than we’d like to admit.  We are more concerned about our prestige and glory than anything else.  And most of us share the spiritual DNA of that wealthy young man who hoped for eternal life.  There’s always something we possess that we can’t bear to let go of – whether it’s monetary wealth or pride in the hard work it took to accumulate it, power in some aspect of our life, or the worldly prestige that comes from possessing either wealth or power.  And, as Sirach reminds us in our first reading, God has been generous to us, yet we find that so easy to forget.  We tell ourselves that we’ve earned what we have, we’ve worked hard for it, and it’s ours.  The truth is that everything we “have” is possible only because of all God has given and done for us.

Action

I don’t believe it’s at all realistic to think that the whole world will ever live as those first Christians did.  There are too many people and nations with too many divergent beliefs.  What we believers can do today, however, is to heed St. Ignatius Loyola’s invitation to be detached and spiritually indifferent concerning the circumstances of our lives and our possessions.  Love each other rather than the things we take credit for accumulating. 

When you have some quiet time today for prayer and reflection, take an honest look at your life and ask yourself some hard questions.  To what are you most attached?  Can you take it with you when you leave this world?  If all your prized possessions were gone tomorrow, would you still be able to praise the Lord?   

Don’t be disheartened by what you discover or are willing to admit because God loves us and is eager to help us put our lives in proper order according to the faith we profess.