28th Sunday of the Year
The Word of God Alive and Active
Veronica Mc Cabe, OP
For many of us there are times in our lives when we are challenged to go beyond our level of comfort – to go the extra mile. This may be in a family situation, in a workplace, or with complete strangers.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus offers such a challenge to a wealthy man who had come to him to ask what more he needed to do to inherit eternal life. It seems that, although he had vast earthly possessions, he felt something missing in his life – “What more can I do,” he says. Jesus’ response to him is a stark invitation to sell all, give to the poor and then to follow Jesus himself.
Had he done as Jesus invited would he have found deeper riches as described in today’s 1st Reading from the Book of Wisdom? In this excerpt, the writer, a man of prayer, applauds the gifts of understanding and of wisdom given to him: “I esteemed her (wisdom) more than sceptres and thrones, compared with her, I held riches as nothing” … “all gold is a pinch of sand.”
Sometimes wealth can blind us to other peoples’ needs. If I live in a big house, perhaps a gated enclosure, it can be difficult to understand the problems of poor people. If I travel in comfort every day, it needs a big stretch of imagination to have insight into the lives of people who have to walk miles even to get water or basic medical care for their families. It can be difficult to understand the desperation of refugees crossing in flimsy boats to try to get to Europe. But the call from Jesus is for each one of us to go the extra mile. From the moment of our birth Jesus “looks steadily at us and loves us”. From the depth of that relationship, he invites each one of us to follow him in a lifestyle in which we will find riches beyond compare – not always of the material kind – and contentment and happiness in living for others.