We are all aware that we live in a society that has become very
materialistic; it is easy for us to forget what really matters in life. To so
many people, happiness depends on possessions: a beautiful house, a luxurious
car, the best in video and sound equipment, all these things become people’s
goals in life. Then, if one of these items cannot be attained, if a young couple
cannot get a mortgage for their dream house, if an older couple cannot retire
as they expected to, then life has taken a terrible turn for the worse and we
become extremely sad because…[1].
Actually, this is not just a habit of modern American
Society. The ancient Egyptians, Romans and others buried their stuff with them
so they could take it to the nether world. In the Gospel for this Sunday a
young man, probably a merchant, is called upon to leave his things to follow
the Lord. He is a good man, someone who has tried hard to serve God, a man whom
Jesus looks upon and loves. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave his possessions
to follow the Lord. He had many too many things…But none of those things gave
him true happiness. And not so with us?
St. Gregory the Great wrote that the more we are involved in temporal things, the more that we are
insensitive to the spiritual. This is something important in the spiritual
life. The rich man of the gospel has a hard time entering the Kingdom of God
not because he is not concerned with the Kingdom of God, is because he is more
concerned with the Kingdom of the world. My brother, my sister, the problem is
not having material possessions, but in having our hearts attached to them.
So, what really
matters in life? Well, the Book of Wisdom, the first reading, says that the
wisdom of God is all that matters. To see things as God sees them. To understand
as God understands. To enjoy the fruits of creation as God means them to be
enjoyed. To use our talents and gifts to come closer to God, to lead our
families in love, this is what matters in life.
You may be well off financially. You may not be well off
financially. What is important is that our life revolves around the love of the
Lord in and through others. This is Wisdom.
We must ask for wisdom every day. Wisdom comes from silence,
prayer, and meditation. Wisdom comes to heart when we hear the Word of God with
care, every Sunday in the Church.
Very often in our examination of conscience, we must ask
some important questions: Where is my
heart? What are the five most
important things in my life? Where does the money in my scale of values? Does
economic concerns distract me from what is essential, what is important, the
things of God?
Last week we started the Year of Faith[2],
and the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI returns to touch our hearts, he says: «During
this time we will need to keep our gaze fixed upon Jesus Christ, the “pioneer
and perfecter of our faith”[3]:
in Him, all the anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfillment.
The joy of love, the answer to the drama of suffering and pain, the power of
forgiveness (…): all this finds fulfillment in the mystery of his Incarnation,
in his becoming man, in his sharing our human weakness so as to transform it by
the power of his resurrection[4].
This morning let us ask all together the gift of wisdom, and
let us ask it trough the intercession of Our Lady. May she who believed always,
help us to believe, and help us understand what is essential, what is important
in our lives as Christians. Amen ■
