On the 4th of October we celebrated the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He came from a wealthy family and lived the ‘good life’. God gifted Francis with the wisdom and understanding to see the shallowness of his lifestyle and invited him to live a life of poverty as a witness against the extravagances of the church at his time.
Not so the young man in today’s gospel. Jesus saw the goodness in him; he was faithful to the commandments all his life. So Jesus invited him to deeper life. This good young man couldn’t take the risk of giving up all his possession, could not trust the promised treasures in heaven. He went away sad, missing the opportunity of a life time.
The point of this encounter of Jesus with this young man was not the giving up of wealth as such but an invitation to a life of discipleship that leads to eternal life. Come follow me.
Every day of life Jesus quietly invites to grow, to move beyond where we are.
Maybe Christ’s invites us to move beyond the resentment and dislike we feel toward men and women from other countries, of other cultures and faiths and lifestyles and invites us to have an open heart and open mind toward these good people as we try to imitate the all-embracing love God has for all people. As we watch the world news each night can we hear Christ calling us away from what Pope Francis called, global indifference, global boredom, to the blight of our brothers and sisters living in dire poverty, our brothers and sisters trapped in the sweat shops of the world or in a war torn country? Is Christ calling us to imitate his sensitivity to the needs of others?
Can we image that Christ is inviting us to times of prayer and quiet as he hints that we’d be more peaceful people without our dependence on our cellphones or I pads, or Facebook 24/7. Are we afraid of his invitation, ‘be still and know that I am God?
Is Christ inviting us to imitate his patience toward us as he challenges us to put aside old resentments and feuds towards relatives and friends and stop picking at old wounds and let the past be the past and live in the now?
Recently the scientists of the world gave us warning. The human family has until the year 2030 to avoid the inevitable results of climate change. Can we hear this warning as a call to all of us to a drastic change in our consumeristic life styles and live lightly upon Earth?
As a church community we’ve been hurt and embarrassed by the exposure of the sins of sexual abuse by priests, bishops and cardinals. Christ challenged the abuse of power and in infidelity of the religious leaders of his time. Is the harsh reality of today’s scandal a challenge to the people of the church to speak truth to power?
Every now and then we sing a hymn titled The Summons.
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name..will you go where you don’t know and never be the same…will you let my love be shown..will you let my name be known …will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?
The point of this encounter of Jesus with this young man was not the giving up of wealth as such but an invitation to a life of discipleship that leads to eternal life. It is an invitation we’re offered in countless ways every day. Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
This Homily entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2018.
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