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 following Jesus completely and fully.
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 in a wall that guarded the city. Most camels in a caravan could not pass through because of their size and all the possessions of their master they were carrying. To get the camel through the “eye of the needle” the possessions had to be removed from the camel and the camel was made to stoop low, perhaps getting on their knees. 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 like attending a football game or playing a round of golf instead of going to Mass, our unhealthy addictions whatever they may be, is it too much time doing anything that we deem more important than worshipping God and being active in His Holy Church? Am I only active in His Church on Sunday? Am I even active on Sunday? 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. Even an attitude that says I can do that because I agree but I won't do that because I personally disagree. What do I put above the actual true teaching of the Church? Tough questions we all must answer! And hopefully, those answers will never compel us to go away sad!
These are awesome times in the life of the Church to really reexamine our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. We just had the invigorating and spiritually wonderful visit of Pope Francis to our country. This week in Rome, the Church begins week two of the nearly month-long Synod on the Family. Soon, Pope Francis will kick-off the Year of Mercy and has already shown us some steps the Church is implementing to dispense that mercy with the decrees on the annulment process and the dispensing of absolution by Priests worldwide concerning the sin of procuring an abortion. With all of this as our backdrop can we examine what we need to do to replace all the junk and stuff that clutters not our attic or piled upon our camels but keeps us from fully and completely giving our all to Jesus. What possessions, what wealth, what gift of self can we donate to others in the weeks ahead? How can I deepen my prayer time or participation in the Sacraments? How can I become more aware of just how important my relationship with Jesus and His Church is to my life?
If nothing else, can we all just make a commitment to depend less and less on all the junk that clutters our life and depend more and more on Jesus and our journey to eternal life?
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