28th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B]
October 10, 2021
Mark 10:17-27<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the rich man begged for eternal life from Jesus, He mentioned the two most fundamental tenets of the Jewish religion: the \u2018Shema\u2019 and the Ten Commandments. Shema is the first Hebrew is \u2018Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord alone\u2026\u201d [Deu 6:4]. Shema has become a basic prayer and creedal statement for the Jewish people since Jesus\u2019 time. A good Jew will recite \u2018Shema\u2019 at least thrice a day. Jesus slightly modified Shema when He said, \u201c\u2026Only God alone is good.\u201d Jesus also recited the Ten Commandments, at least the second half of it. Jesus emphasized the rich man\u2019s obligations to do good and avoid harm to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus seemed to tell the man that living the Shema and doing the Lord\u2019s commandment was what he needed to do to gain eternal life. However, there was an intriguing twist in the story. The rich man said that he had done that since he was young. Now, instead of feeling satisfied with his accomplishment, he felt something remained missing. Despite doing what the Law required and believing in one true God, he did not find what he was honestly longing for. He expected Jesus to give him the answer, the missing link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus recognized the sincerity of the man and loved him. Jesus offered him the final piece that would solve his life\u2019s puzzle: to follow Jesus. Yet, through His divine wisdom, Jesus was able also to identify one enormous obstacle to follow Jesus and gain eternal life. This man was attached to his wealth. Thus, the solution was to radically detach himself from the wealth, like \u2018camel through an eye of a needle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is wealth evil? Not at all! Material possessions are good because this too is created by God and God\u2019s blessing. St. Paul reminded us that evil is not the richness itself but the love of money [1 Tim 6:10]. Wealth is good if it serves as a means to an end and not the end itself. Jesus allowed Himself and His ministry to be supported by resourceful men and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To follow Jesus means using our wealth to serve God and help others, especially the poor. To follow Jesus means that we recognize that richness is God\u2019s blessing to be shared. To follow Jesus is acknowledging that pursuit of earthly possessions without God is bound to lose God, the source of all wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, following Jesus and making our other priorities like money, fame, and success as means rather than the end is a radical choice. These earthly possessions often give us an instant pleasure and feeling of security. With a lot of money, we can do what we want and have what we desire. Yet, these pleasures and security are nothing but a mirage. In 2008, the financial crisis hit many countries hard, and many economies collapsed. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminded us, \u201cthose who seek success, career or money are building on sand.\u201d True, wealth without God is nothing but a \u2018sand\u2019.
We seek first the Kingdom of God, and the rest will follow. We follow Jesus first, and the other things will fall into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP
photocredit: vince gx<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
\nOctober 10, 2021
\nMark 10:17-27<\/p>\n
When the rich man begged for eternal life from Jesus, He mentioned the two most fundamental tenets of the Jewish religion: the \u2018Shema\u2019 and the Ten Commandments. Shema is the first Hebrew is \u2018Hear O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord alone\u2026\u201d [Deu 6:4]. Shema has become a basic prayer and creedal statement for the Jewish people since Jesus\u2019 time. A good Jew will recite \u2018Shema\u2019 at least thrice a day. Jesus slightly modified Shema when He said, \u201c\u2026Only God alone is good.\u201d Jesus also recited the Ten Commandments, at least the second half of it. Jesus emphasized the rich man\u2019s obligations to do good and avoid harm to others. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58,67],"class_list":["post-10852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection","tag-valentinus-bayuhadi-ruseno"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10852"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10853,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10852\/revisions\/10853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}