To often life is focused on collecting and holding on to stuff. It can be either the physical stuff obtained throughout our daily journeys, or it can be emotional and psychological baggage that has weighed us down over the decades. What is clear is that our lives are weighed down by clutter stuff that prevents us from living and being free to receive what God has in store for us. The scriptures this week speaks to the centrality of our Catholic faith. Letting go and allowing God to direct our lives for the purpose and destiny he has in store for us. Look at the example of Christ Himself:
Philippians 2:6-11
“ though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
This letting go is key to our faith and we are called to a spirit of detachment from not only stuff but attitudes, perceptions and feelings. Being unstuck and free from stuff allows us to “seek what is above.”
What we obtain in life is not the end all and be all of life. We need to understand that what we have both physical, material things as well as positions and power are not meant to weigh us down, nor to be central to our identity and life. The Word of God speaks to us to be free and detached from stuff, but the truth is that it all passes, it isn’t eternal. What we have is meant to be enjoyed yes, and be placed at the service of others. What joy it is to be able to have and appreciate what we’ve gained but what a greater power and joy to be free from thungs and positions possessing us.
Let’s look at the readings:
“Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun?” Ecclesiastes 1:2
We live in a materialistic and consumer society. We are encouraged to accumulate stuff and hold onto it. This greed and possessiveness controls our every breath and movement. Say No, to allowing stuff to direct our living, rather let us take the word of St Paul today in his letter to the Colossians ”If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.a2Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”
The true seeker of Christ can have and use wealth but not be controlled by it. They are generous in sharing what they have been blessed to receive. They use what they have been so blessed to gain through their hard work and commitment not only for themselves but for the wellbeing of others. This spirit of detachment is not only a blessing to them but also they recognize their responsibility and calling to be a blessing toward the betterment of others.
Pope Francis has called us to be a church for the poor. This doesn’t mean that the wealthy are not a part of the church, by no means. Rather they are invited to partner with the church to serve those suffering on the peripheries, those who hunger and thirst, both for physical nourishment and for justice, and their needs must also be met. This is what it means to allow your life ”to be hidden in Christ.” The Gospel speaks to us today of this truth of Christian living. Two brothers fighting over stuff asking Jesus to be arbitrator over an inheritance, or a man so wealthy and greedy he can only see building to gain more. No! Christ encourages us and demands of us to be unstuck from the stuff of life that binds us, the chains us down and retrains us. When we seek Christ, seeking His face, seeking to know Him and seeking to see Him in the faces and pain of those on the peripheries, it is then that he provides for us.
I used to get nervous and concerned when we didn’t have money’,like now! Each and every time I’d become fixed on not having all we needed to survive, but I have to trust that God will provide it. God would use someone who has the means to be a blessing to our mission so that we might continue to share the love and good news in Jesus Christ. Daily we must seek His face, that is the face of God. And when we seek Him truly all that we need will pour forth into our laps.
You got the message Pastor Brown. Just what I need to hear today. Thank you
Thanks Will call to check in on you.