Homily for Sunday 14th October 2018.
_“I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to sceptres and thrones, and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.” *Wisdom 7:7-8.*
While trying to prepare today’s homily, I stumbled upon this story on social media from an unknown author. It goes thus: “The Parable of the foolish boy!” Paul was captain of his school's Quiz team and had led them to several victories. On the Final leg of the National Junior Schools Quiz Competition, the last question that would have given the school another Victory was directed at Paul... “Spell AUDITORIUM.” It was obviously a ‘cheap’ question for somebody of Paul's intelligence, but he observed that the word ‘Auditorium’ was pasted to the microphone before him.
Paul raised his hand and said, “Sorry sir, but the word is pasted on this microphone and it would be cheating if I answered it.” So, he was given another question which he couldn't answer correctly, and his school LOST the competition! Many watching Live on TV said, “What a stupid boy. His type should never be involved in anything that has to do with clear thinking because he is obviously a brain-washed and confused youth.” His schoolmates almost lynched him for making them lose…
Nevertheless, his parents gave him a Hero’s Welcome back home, they told him they were very proud of him. Even the School Principal made the students give Paul a standing ovation the next day. Two days later, one of the National dailies reporting the story on its Front page with Paul's picture, captioned it, “BEHOLD, THE HOPE OF OUR NATION!” The Chairman of one of the biggest banks in the country, an old student of the school, read the story and came calling a week later with a fat cheque and scholarship for Paul.
I think what happened to Paul could have been the fate of the rich young man in today’s Gospel passage if only this man was willing to “lose” all his riches and possessions as instructed by Jesus. There are so many lessons we can learn from today’s readings:
*One: Wisdom is better than Riches.*
When we say wisdom is better than riches, bear in mind that being wise is in itself a form of riches. To be wise is to be richer than the richest man and woman on earth even if one’s account balance is empty, but to simply have money and possessions without wisdom is to be extremely poor. This is what our first reading teaches us today. And looking at the story of the young man in today’s Gospel passage, we can safely conclude that he wasn’t really rich after all. Just as Jesus said, he lacked one thing – wisdom.
To the eyes of many, this young man was rich but for his lack of wisdom, he was suffering from “invisible poverty.” As someone once said: “Don’t be so poor that the only thing you have is money.” There are many persons in our society today who appear to be rich but are suffering from invisible poverty; the poverty of worshipping money and possessions; the poverty of refusing to help the poor, (like the rich man who did not notice Lazarus covered with sores at this gate); the poverty of stealing that which belongs to the general public (living a life of luxury and wastefulness at the expense of the poor masses they pretend to be serving).
If all you desire in life is just to have a lot of money, cars and possessions by hook or by crook, then you need to revisit your values lest you end up sick of invisible poverty. Instead of praying for money, let us begin to pray for wisdom.
*Two: What do you seek from God?*
Like the young man who came to Jesus in today’s Gospel passage, each of us goes to God every day in search of something we consider missing in our lives. This young man came to Jesus not for riches, not for anything material, he came for the highest treasure any human being can desire; eternal life or simply put ultimate happiness. For this, I think he deserves to be praised, unlike that young man who came to Jesus asking him to help divide their late father’s property between him and his brother. To him, Jesus said: “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you.” (Luke 12:13-14). In fact, we are told that Jesus loved this rich young man.
Am I in the church to find eternal life? Or am I here to ask Jesus for those very things He wanted this young man to let go of? Will Jesus love me or get annoyed with me based on what I am praying for?
*Three: The High Price of Happiness (Eternal Life).*
In my book, “Enjoy” which took me over ten years to write, I did an in-depth research on man’s quest for happiness. Let’s face it, happiness is expensive. It demands a lot of letting go. For instance, if we want to be happy instantly, we must learn to forgive those who trespass against us because it is only when we let go of past hurts and wounds that we can have peace of mind. Forgiveness is a price to pay for joy and inner healing.
The Ten Commandments also contain God’s open formula for happiness but too often we see them as burdensome rather than as divine expo for pure joy and bliss. Jesus confirmed this fact by reciting the commandments to him as the answer to his quest for happiness. You will agree with me that keeping the commandments is NOT EASY, you must make a lot of sacrifices, for instance, to stay away from adultery, fornication, stealing, telling lies, defrauding etc. they are very difficult to keep yet they are the keys to our happiness. You can never find joy by living in sin. St. Paul says: “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
As difficult as the Ten Commandments may be, there is an even greater price for happiness; total detachment. When Jesus saw that this man had been able to cross the first stage (obeying the commandments since his youth), Jesus decided to introduce him to the second stage of finding pure bliss; a stage which demanded a greater amount of sacrifice and letting go. Jesus told him to sell everything he had, give to the poor to secure treasures in heaven and then become a follower. This man would have become the thirteenth Apostle but he couldn’t cross into stage two.
*Four: Are my Riches Acting as Obstacles in My Path to Eternal Life?*
Today’s Gospel passage is the very passage that St. Francis of Assisi heard one Sunday in Church that made him go home and literally gave everything he had to the poor. Being the son of a very wealthy man, Francis not only let go of all his possession, but he also lost his inheritance as his father disowned him for taking such a “bad” decision. He left home, went into the desert and became a monk. Soon after, many followed in his steps. “To what extent am I willing to let go of my possessions in other to serve God with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul?”
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and everything else you need will be provided” because God who clothes the flowers and decorates the birds knows what you need even before you ask. He said to Peter today: “no one who has left house, brother, sister, etc. for my sake will not receive a hundredfold now in this time and in the age to come.” Mark 10:29-30.
Our second reading today says the Word of God is a LIVING ORGANISM. The Bible may look like an ordinary book printed with paper but the words it contains are ALIVE and ACTIVE and there is no situation that this living organism cannot attend to. However, we never find time to read the Bible because we are busy; busy doing what? Busy trying to get rich!
We work so hard from morning till night making money (which is never enough despite how much we make), and we never find time to attend to the living organism we call the Bible. On the other hand, in our attempt to make this money, we often dull our consciences doing the very opposite of what the Bible says. Our riches are obstacles to our quest for eternal life.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, give me the wisdom to make heaven my only priority in life. Teach me to use my wealth wisely by helping the poor. Deepen my understanding of your words as I contemplate the Bible every day. Amen.
Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (28th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Year B. Bible Study: Wisdom 7:7-11, Psalm 90:12-17, Hebrews 4:12-13 and Mark 10:17-30).
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