28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B
A story was told about a homeless Indian boy found a priceless precious pearl. He believed that this was a blessing from God, that all his worries were over; that he was set for life and that he would never have to work. The next day he excitedly went to sell the pearl to some pearl merchants. Some of the merchants tried to cheat him, others underpriced the pearl saying it was fake, while some others tried to steal the pearl from him. Some of the merchants/buyers even sent people to kill him to acquire the pearl. This scared him so much that he became extremely worried, stressed out and scared of everyone around him, because his life was in danger. He had to make a choice between his life and the priceless pearl. So one day, he walked down to the sea as he was being trailed/followed and watched by the pearl merchants/buyers, and he threw the pearl into the sea as far as he could. After that, he walked away happily and relaxed.
In today’s gospel reading, from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, chapter 10, 17 to 30, we hear the story of the rich young man who came to Jesus and asked Him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” After Jesus had told him to live out the commandments, he responded saying, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus sensing that he was a rich man who was attached to his wealth said, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement from Jesus, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. With these words, Jesus wanted to open his eyes to understand exactly what he was lacking and that his worldly possessions or riches were impeding him from truly loving God, following Him and attaining the kingdom of heaven. From these two stories, we can infer that there is freedom and happiness in letting go of our earthly possessions and attachments from the story of the homeless Indian boy who found the priceless pearl. And that there is sadness and bondage in holding on to earthly possessions and attachments from the story of the rich young man in the gospel reading.
My dear friends, we live in a very materialistic and worldly society. A society that measures success in terms of possessions, fame, economic prosperity, status and wealth. We live in a society that has its values centered on power, property and profit. Directly or indirectly, we have in fact become devoted disciples of this consumeristic and materialistic culture or lifestyle, and it has indeed destroyed our relationship with God and our faith in Him. Think about how much time, energy and effort we put into valuing earthly things we have or the fame we have achieved, yet we don’t value the importance of God in our lives or attaining His kingdom in heaven after our lives on earth.
Jesus in today’s gospel reading is asking us to pause for a moment and reflect on this matter in light with His values and our Catholic beliefs. Ask yourself today, am I too attached to the things of the world or my earthly possessions and fame? What is holding me back or impeding me from coming closer to God? What is distracting me from truly answering my call to discipleship? What is hindering me from sincerely repenting from my sins, changing my life, living out and proclaiming the gospel of Christ and becoming a better Christian? What keeps me from making progress in my spiritual life and in my faith in God? Remember the words we heard in today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom, chapter 7, verse 7 to 11 that states, “I deemed riches nothing in comparison with her (that is, God), nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.” God should be the center of our attention, our focus and our lives, and nothing else. This is why we are reminded by today’s second reading from the Book of Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 12 to 13 that, “the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.”
My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time to stay away from and give up everything that keeps us from loving God, listening to His word, accepting His word, following Him and living out His commandments. So let us detach ourselves from earthly attachments and keep Jesus’s teaching in today’s gospel reading in mind, that says, “there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
