28th Sunday, Year B: Homily by Fr. Isaac Chima

Theme: Choosing Christ above every other thing

Readings: Wis. 7:7–11; Heb. 4:12–13; Mk 10:17–30

Dear friends in Christ, our world is full of beautiful things despite the difficulties it poses most times. But the church invites us through the readings of today to choose Christ above all the beautiful and sweet things of the world if we want to inherit eternal life because to have Him is to possess all other things and even more, but to lose Him is to lose both the beautiful and sweet things of the world and ourselves.

In the gospel of today, Jesus told the young man who wanted to inherit eternal life to go and sell everything he owned, give the money to the poor, and come and follow Him so that he will gain eternal life. What Jesus told him to do about his material possession was very difficult, and the young man departed in anger. But that was the only option Christ had for him and for all those who would wish to follow Him. And that was exactly what His disciples did. They left all their material inheritance and followed Jesus. After the death of Jesus, they didn’t return home to take back their possessions; rather, they went from place to place, preaching the gospel.

Priests and religious are also following this order from Christ; that is why they must leave their family and inheritance and focus their entire life and attention on building up the Church, the kingdom of God here on earth. Their attention is not on being materially rich; their material sustenance comes from the lay faithful.

But what should the lay faithful do? Does this command of Christ about material possession, as well as His warning that it will be difficult for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God, also apply to them, since they need material possessions to sustain their families, govern the world, and support the church? The answer is ‘yes’. But should they abandon or sell off their material possessions in order to follow Christ the way priests and religious are required to do? The answer is ‘no’. Then, what should the lay people do to be faithful to the command of Christ about abandoning material possessions and following Him?

The answer is that the lay faithful should sell their possession, and follow Christ, not selling these possessions in the literal sense, but rather in the symbolic sense. This means the lay faithful who want to follow Christ and inherit the kingdom of God should keep their possessions but must do these two things.

First, they must put Jesus and His demands above their material possessions; they must give priority to Jesus over their material possessions. This means that whenever what it takes to be materially rich and the attention material possession demands come in conflict with what Jesus commanded us to do and the attention that should be given to Jesus, the lay faithful, as well as everyone, should give priority to Jesus and his commands. This is the teaching at the heart of the first reading.

This reading told us what Solomon did when he was faced with the option of choosing between wealth, power, and wisdom. Instead of choosing wealth and power over God, as many people are doing in our world nowadays, Solomon chose wisdom, the wisdom of God, which enables us to value heavenly riches above earthly gains. The author, therefore, advised his people and us to do the same, to choose God above all the choices that the material world offers.

Whenever someone chooses God above the beautiful things that the material world offers, many people often regard him as foolish and unreal, especially those who think that attending to their businesses or relaxing at home or in the bars is better than going to Church on Sundays, those who think that the teachings of Christ should not be applied when doing business and politics, and those who think that people who want to be rich and enjoy their life should push Christian faith aside and live their life the way they deem fit. These people do think that it is impossible for those who have given Christ priority in their lives to be rich and happy in this world. Indeed, it appears impossible in the eyes of men, but all things are possible with God, according to Jesus in today’s gospel.

The second thing the lay faithful should do to be faithful to the command of Jesus regarding material possessions is that they must be prepared to put their material and non-material possessions at the service of God, the church, and the poor. This means that whenever they are called to put their talents, possessions, and time at the service of the Church and the poor, they should do so willingly and generously.

We should remember that despite the fact that the young man that came to Jesus had observed all the commandments given by Moses, something was still lacking in him; he lacked good service to the poor. So, it is never enough to observe all the prohibitions listed in commandments; whoever wants to inherit the kingdom of God also needs to recognize Jesus in the poor and in the Church and offer Him good services by serving the poor and the Church.

Happy Sunday and peace be with you.

Fr Isaac C Chima.