A couple of years ago my wife asked me to take the week off between Christmas and New Year’s Day and one of the things we would do was clean out the attic. One of the things; that’s the only thing we did that entire week! Our whole life together of accumulating junk and stuff was laid out right there in front of us.
Garage sales, rummage sales, buying storage space and paying rent for our junk and stuff, possessions we never use, a TV industry making a killing on shows like Hoarders and other activities around junk and stuff.
As people of faith, we are called to rid ourselves of all the junk and stuff in our lives that prevents us from making room for our faith and Jesus.
St. Mark tells us today of the encounter Jesus has with the rich young man. He knew there was something special about this Jesus. He ran to him, was enthusiastic, called him good and asked him about inheriting eternal life. At first Jesus gives the kind of answer the rich young man was seeking. Jesus lists six of the ten commandments and right away the rich young man says, yes! I follow these!! I got this; I’m getting in, I will have eternal life. Then Jesus did the “not so fast” routine. You see Jesus knows what holds this rich young man back from fully giving of himself: his possessions. Now the Gospel tells us that first, Jesus loved him, then he tells him: “go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me”.
All of a sudden the rich young man becomes sad and walks away. Remember, something powerful drew him to Jesus enthusiastically and he wanted his “approval”. But now, faced with the realization that he must sell his possessions, he literally walks away from Jesus. His junk and his stuff became his line in the sand. Sad indeed!
Jesus, by describing a camel going through the eye of a needle as easier than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, teaches a larger lesson about possessions and wealth. You see the prevailing belief of the day is that the amount of God’s blessings on someone was directly related to the amount of their stuff. You have more stuff, God blessed you more; less stuff, not so much. Jesus says NO! Makes one wonder about those who continue to preach a prosperity only Gospel today!
The eye of the needle was a low narrow passageway that most camels in a caravan could not pass through. To get the camel through the “eye of the needle” the supplies had to be removed from the camel and he was made to stoop low. Sounds like a great lesson for us; strip ourselves of our junk and stuff and be a little more humble and submit to our Lord!
What does this Gospel mean for us today? Quite simply, Jesus calls each of us to examine more fully that which we possess that holds us back from loving Him more completely, more fully and embracing our faith with zeal. Is it our money, our desire for more money? Is it our possessions? Is it our distractions, our unhealthy addictions, is it too much time doing anything that we deem more important than worshipping God and being active in His Holy Church? Each of us needs to answer these questions. Could it even be our own attitude about our faith? I’ll follow the commandments, like the rich young man, but I’m not going to help the poor and needy, take care of the sick and dying, visit the prisoner. Tough things we all must answer.
To help us the Church just inaugurated the Year of Faith. It began October 11th, just this past week to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It will last until the end of November, 2013; a full year and lagniappe of FAITH! I’m reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church every day for the next year to rid myself of my own unnecessary junk and stuff. I actually get an email everyday with passages from the Catechism to read. Google it and sign up. If you don’t know what Google it means, ask your kids and grandkids! Or you can read it the old fashioned way. Make a commitment. In this year of faith, examine what we can do to replace junk and stuff with real spiritual sustenance. Donate weekly to the food bank, recommit to frequent confession or recitation of the Rosary. Maybe just be more aware of all that junk and stuff that keeps you from growing in faith and growing more intimate and personal with Jesus.
Less junk; more Jesus!
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