DAILY DEVOTIONAL

Friday, February 15, 2019

Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”  Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will now receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. – Mark 10:23-30

Counter to all the prosperity gospel preacher who try to exploit the financial anxiety and lust for gold, I believe Christ taught His disciples including you and me, that the wealthy struggle with the self-giving nature of the Christian Way.  For the Christian, our wealth is not comprised of silver or gold,  stocks and bonds, mansions and yachts, the material comforts of the well-to-do … but our wealth is comprised of a bountiful share of love, peace, joy, meaning, satisfaction, clarity of conscience, and a proper ordering of values.

But why would the wealthy struggle so?  It is a difficult challenge to totally serve the desires of God while one has a divided loyalty to serving the requirements of Money.  It is a difficult challenge to let go of what you believe is yours in order to become a means of Providence.  It is a difficult challenge to not vault one’s worth over the worth of others by way of your success in the Realm of Mammon.

The Realm of Money has its own principles and processes.  The Realm of God has its own principles and processes.  And though at times they coincide, many times, they do not.  And the temptation to live one’s life in the pursuit of wealth and the statue it brings is alluring to our mortal souls.  And I have observed all through my life … the Realm of Money demands that we gain more and more of money … for once gotten it is never enough.  In the Realm of God … the more we love with a self-giving Love the more satisfied we then become.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz