Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash
A Reflection from the Fuel Daily Readings App for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Click here to read the reading.
How many times in life do we look at someone else, or the image they’ve got on social media, and think “wow they’re so talented/good looking/famous/rich/well-travelled”? How often do we groan and think, “if only I had what they had, then I’d be “#blessed” too!”
If, like me, you have ever done this, then together we’re guilty of the same kind of thinking which frustrated Jesus in the Gospel today. Jesus saw, and loved, the heart of a genuinely good guy – a young man who had done the right thing all his life – and saw how much he wanted more. However, the man walked away sad – heaven came with too high a price tag. This is when Jesus cracks it.
He tells his disciples that it is basically impossible for rich people to enter heaven, and his disciples are shocked, as we should be too. There is nothing more normal for us than to think that rich and successful people (and we can add in here ‘talented, good looking, etc’) are truly #blessed by God – that God loves them more and is rewarding them for somehow being better humans. But Jesus says that this can actually be worse for them – the poor in spirit are really #blessed!
It’s because the people who have riches in this life (money, fame etc) can so easily be sucked in by them. Like all humans, they seek the thing which makes them truly happy, but, by only having eyes for the gifts of this world, they forget the Giver who is behind it all; the One our hearts crave, and the One where our hearts find deepest joy. That’s why Solomon wrote about thrones and riches being nothing compared to the light of God’s Wisdom, and why Jesus (the same Wisdom-in-flesh) became frustrated. He loves us, and wants the best for us, but sees how the riches of this life can have such as strong hold over even the best hearts- that they would rather keep their gifts and walk sadly away from the Giver himself.
+ Jesus, I’m sorry for the times I’ve walked sadly away from you, because something in life seemed too precious. Help me to see that you are worth more than what the world offers, and give me the strength to follow your way of true joy and peace. Amen.