In today’s gospel, a “rich young man” approaches Jesus. We would say he has lived an honest life, as the reading indicates that he kept all basic commandments, but he never mentioned his care and attention for the poor. And so Jesus, seeing the emptiness that still plagued this man’s heart, looks at him with a deep love which wished him the best kind of life, here and in eternity.
Jesus sees how the illusion of money being the insurance of a happy life can really mislead a person, and when Jesus offers this young man in the gospel the opportunity to follow him, only that first he would need to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor, the man was crushed. He figured, “Well, why can’t I just hold on to everything and follow you in just the same way?” And the point Jesus is making, is that by holding on to things, and remaining attached to things… we will weaken our resolve to live for him alone and bear much fruit for the kingdom as we will be too busy thinking of ourselves.
Accumulating wealth, using money for self-gratification in its many forms can eventually hypnotize an individual, so that the possession of money becomes a passion… a love. And we know what scripture declares about that: the love of money is the root of all evil.
God, the loving Father he is, wishes to liberate us from that and we, as Franciscans, are on the front lines of that battle to help save people from this kind of blindness and destruction. But first we need to focus on ourselves, in this regard.
In our Franciscan tradition, we know that Francis didn’t want us even carrying a dime on our person. Why is this? Was he a fanatical follower of Jesus, or just one who did not want to open the door to temptation, and risk jeopardizing his and the friars’ beautiful relationship with God in holiness? Did Francis not believe we could do so much good with that money? Sure. But he knew human nature. He knew that human nature would not change from a man who lived in the twelfth century, to a man who lived in the twenty-first.. money would deviate a friar from living a simple and holy life and his love for Jesus would dwindle. God, therefore, wants to give us another kind of wealth.
Today as we also begin Saint Peter’s first letter, the first three verses of the first chapter are not included in the reading, but in them the writer tells us to whom the letter is being addressed. They include five Roman provinces in Asia Minor and cover most of what is modern Turkey – Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. In reality however, God has taken what he has written, and as is the case for all Scripture, he allows the Holy Spirit to speak to us as well, living in today’s world.
After Peter begins telling us how we may need to go through suffering in our walk of faith which is proven and strengthened and purified by fire, yet how it leads to unimaginable joy and consolation. He who had lived eye-witness accounts of the Lord in both his public ministry and his post-resurrection appearances marvels at these new Christian converts, and in a way, he is marvelling at each and every one of us when, referring to Jesus, he says:
“You did not see him, yet you love him; and still without seeing him, you are already filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described, because you believe; and you are sure of the end to which your faith looks forward, that is, the salvation of your souls.”
Here it is. It is not money that brings “a joy so glorious that it cannot be described” into our lives, but faith—a loving relationship with God. Can we see what Francis discovered and wanted to be the same joy for his brothers? Can we see why Jesus told Saint Martha that there was only one thing necessary? This is true wealth, and we can make it ours day by day as we continue to walk humbly before our Heavenly Father. Amen.
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