The Unaccepted Challenge

Jesus realized that his rich young man was shackled by his possessions. So he challenged the young man by listing those precepts of the Decalogue that deal with social and familial relations. Then Jesus told the young man that, if he wanted to be perfect, keeping the commandments was not enough. He challenged the young man to share his riches with the poor. “There is one thing lacking. Sell all you have and give to the poor, and then you will have real treasure. After that, come and be with me.” Jesus thus makes it clear that a true follower who wants to possess eternal life must not only be a respectable gentleman who hurts nobody, but also someone who shares his riches, talents and other blessings with the less fortunate. In other words, Jesus tells the young man that life is a matter of priorities. God must have the first priority. Unfortunately, the rich man was unwilling to accept Jesus’ idea that wealth is not something to be owned but rather something to be shared with others. Jesus asked him to break his selfish attachment to his wealth by sharing it. He makes the same challenge to each of us today. Our following of Jesus has to be totally and absolutely unconditional. Our attachment may not be to money or material goods; it could be to another person, a job, our health, or our reputation. We must be ready to cut off any such attachment in order to become true Christian disciples, sharing our blessings with others. [Fr. Tony Homilies]

This Week’s Feasts

This week we celebrate the memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus on the 15^th. Many have trouble keeping Therese of Lisieux and Teresa of Avila (Jesus) separate. Both are Doctors of the Church, but they are almost polar opposits. St. Therese had a very simple, pious faith, and St. Teresa was both a mystic and a scholar, and helped reform the Carmelites, with her spiritual friend, St. John of the Cross. There is a very simple Taize hymn based upon her writings that would be lovely and easily done with the daily Mass crowd called “Nada te turbe” (GIA). Here is its translation:

Let nothing trouble you,

Let nothing make you afraid.

All things pass away.

God never changes.

Patience obtains everything.

God alone is enough.

Saturday the 17^th is the memorial for the much earlier Saint Ignatius of Antioch. He is one of the early martyrs and his writings are part of the “Apostolic Fathers” of the church. I don’t know how many of us could pray this prayer:

“I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God’s sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Chris” (Epistle to the Romans, IV).

He got his wish as he was fed to the lions in the coliseum. [Jill Maria Murdy, Connect! Uniting Word & World, October 11, 2009]