Homily for April 10, 2017.
Once upon
a time, a friend told me the story of a priest who usually goes abroad to beg
for aid on behalf of the poorest of the poor in his home country. He would take
along gory pictures of how life is hard and tough for the citizens of his
country; pictures capable of breaking the heart of even the most stingy to give
out money.
This
priest was such a saint, carrying such a humanitarian project every year hustling
for money for the poor but there was only one problem, no dime ever got to the
poor! All the money he gathered ended up in his personal bank account.
This story
sums up the character of Judas Iscariot who is described in our Gospel passage
today as a thief! He was in charge of the money box, he was the chief
accountant of Jesus and his disciples, the last person anyone would ever suspect
of financial misappropriation yet he was a thief.
How many
of us steal in the name of the poor? With begging having become some sort of international
business, those who are really poor suffer more because those who ought to give
are not able to tell who is genuine anymore?
Money is
good, yet it is the root of all evil. How? Money is evil when we fall in love
with it. Money is evil when we begin to tell lies because of it, when we begin
to disregard the commandments of God, betray our friends and so on. *Any* *money*
*we* *get* *by* *committing* *sin* *is* *blood* *money*.
Judas
Iscariot not only fell madly in love with money, he lost both his faith and his
reasoning. This is what happens to us when our hearts are taken over by money;
we begin to interpret everything only in terms of profit and loss.
While
others saw the action of Mary as an expression of love, Judas saw it as waste
of resources. Jesus went further to explain that by anointing his feet with the
ointment and wiping them with her hair, Mary was actually preparing him for his
burial. Of course, this made no sense to Judas because the only thing that
mattered to him was money.
Judas’
love for money would eventually lead him to betraying Jesus for thirty pieces
of silver. That was his ultimate shot at making cool money. He was hoping that
Jesus would prove himself too powerful to be arrested and call down Legions of
Angels to fight on his behalf. But how wrong was he?
When Judas
saw how Jesus was captured freely and without resistance whatsoever, he
realized this was bad market for him. All of sudden, the money became useless
to him and he hung himself in deep regret. When we commit sin because of money,
that money will one day become useless to us!
I believe
the story of Judas Iscariot is contained in the Bible for a reason; to teach us
that money is not everything in life. Becoming rich is not as important as
being honest, pure in heart, faithful to God and to one’s vows. Money should
never be god to us.
If we don’t
have money, we should never see ourselves as unfortunate or unlucky in life. Our
lack of money should not inspire us to sin or get into shady deals or become
like Judas Iscariot. No matter how little we have, we should be content with it
and learn to give thanks.
If we have
money, let us learn to control it and not allow it control us. When we become
too stingy, it is a sign that we are being controlled by money. By refusing to
give away our money or share with others, we are indirectly saying that: it is
in money we place our trust for survival and not in God.
Of course
Mary knew how expensive the ointment was yet she poured it freely on Jesus. She
was willing to give away her most-priced possession because she did not
consider it as god to her.
The
question that bothers me now is: Why is it that when it comes to giving to God,
I select the worst and least of all I have? Can I like Mary give away my most
valuable possession to help the poor?
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, please remove the spirit of Judas Iscariot from
me. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 5th Week of Lent. Bible
Study: Isaiah 42:1-7 and John 12:1-11).
Fr. Abu.
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