October 14, 2012 – Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wis 7:7-11; Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-30
Listening to Jesus’ words in today’s gospel: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven,” many of us sat back in our seats and breathed a sigh of relief. We are not rich, and thank God. It must be easier for us to enter heaven. Right?
But the fact is, whether we are wealthy according to the world’s standards or not, Jesus’ words are meant for every single one of us. We are all very rich. God has given us innumerable gifts – our time, our talents, our treasure, our very lives are gifts from the Lord. We have so much, and as Christ’s disciples, we are called to give it all to the Lord – to use our time, our talents, and our treasure to serve God and build His kingdom.
Living a life of stewardship as a Christian disciple requires giving completely of one’s self. It means living our lives for the Lord and giving all we have and all we are to serve Him. This is not an easy task. It is radical. It is extreme. And it is richly rewarding.
At the end of today’s gospel, Jesus exclaims, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Have you given all that you have to serve the Lord?
