Homily for May 29, 2018.
“Peter began to say to him, ‘Lo, we have left everything and followed you.’” Mark 10:28.
The essence of discipleship is detachment. To be a follower of God, one must first make a fundamental decision to make God one’s highest priority. To be a follower of God and a pursuer of riches is truly a contradiction in terms. This is the bane of Christianity in our society today.
Peter said to Jesus: “We have left everything and followed you.” Can I say this about myself today? As a Christian, what have I left behind for the sake of God? What makes me different from the rest of the world? Is God my sole priority?
Unlike the rich young man who walked away sad in yesterday’s Gospel passage, the true disciple is one who places his total trust in God. When faced with temptation, the true disciple is one who would rather obey God and lose riches than disobey God.
A true disciple as Peter himself acknowledges in today’s first reading is one who is committed to personal holiness; one who is not conformed to the passions of his former ignorance. The true disciple does not engage in any form of competition or bragging over material possessions.
Placing one’s total trust in God rather than in earthly riches is what Jesus Christ admonishes us to do when he said: “Happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Mathew 5:3. In Luke’s translation of this verse, we hear Jesus saying: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20.
As the psalmist says: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.’ For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings, you will find refuge.” Psalm 91:1-4.
To one who is faithless, abandoning oneself to God, leaving everything behind for God’s sake, making God one’s priority appears like a death sentence. But as Jesus assures us today:
“there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life.” Mark 10:29-30.
Are we then to pursue the Christian life solely for the sake of these rewards? No. indeed to understand what Jesus is saying clearly, Matthew 6:33 immediately comes to mind: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Think of it as the act of catching a butterfly. If you go frantically in search of it, it flies away but when you let it be, it settles on you.
Aspire for sainthood. Place your trust in God. Be detached from worldly goods. God surely knows how to take care of his own. So long as it is not material possessions you seek, God who knows what you need even before you ask will not leave you empty.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, give me the wisdom to re-order my priorities, to work not only for worldly wealth but more importantly for eternal life. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 1st Peter 1:10-16 and Mark 10:28-31).
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