FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK

Dear Parishioners,

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus continues to make radical demands of those who want to be His disciples. Last Sunday it was about marriage, today it is about money. We meet a man who has a sense of his mortality and a hope for eternal life. He comes eagerly and respectfully to Jesus. The eternal life that the man is seeking is a gift of God. Then Jesus places the man within his own faith traditions, quoting to him some of the Ten Commandants. The man replies that he has kept all these commandments.

Jesus gazes at the man & loves him so much that he gives him the radical answer that his radical question deserved. Jesus asks him to discard everything, to extend his love of God to the poor by selling all he has and giving the money from this transaction to them, leaving himself dependent on nothing but treasure in heaven, and then to follow Jesus. The man is shocked by Jesus’ reply, and instead of following he goes away “sad, for he had many possessions.” There is a longing within this young man to leave behind the material things that hold him hostage and to find a deeper purpose, but he is not yet ready to break the ties that bind him to his former life. Although he leaves Jesus feeling sad, this sadness may be the very thing that will eventually lead him back again in the ongoing process of conversion that we all engage in every day.

In our own lives of discipleship, we know our relationship with Jesus cannot be reduced to checking off good deeds or avoiding bad ones. Instead, the life of faith often requires finding, losing, and finding again our heart’s greatest desireto join the one who calls us by name in building the kingdom of God. At times on this journey of faith, we might find ourselves walking away sad, unable to give a full and resounding “yes” to Jesus. When this happens, may these emotions be the key to discernment of where, and in whom, our true happiness resides. St. Augustine wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” How true that is.

Let me end with this thought: Today’s gospel provides a good example of a man whose possessions “own him” rather than him owning his possessions. How might God be calling us to give up certain material things in order to gain greater freedom in the spiritual life?

Peace,
Fr. Monteleone

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