Lord help me to make the right choice.

Saturday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time
November 7, 2015

Thinking about the message in Luke’s Gospel I’m reminded of a series of commercials that ran in the 1980s for a certain Lite beer based around that jingle, “Who says you can’t have it all?”

The TV spots showed a certain demographic we called “yuppies” back then, who supposedly did have it all.  Like the guy at work in a pinstripe suit and later in the same day, jamming with his rock n roll band.

One of the challenges of our time IS that desire to have it all.  We want to be people of faith and, at the same time, want to be part of the values of our culture.  Serving God is irreconcilable with earthly wealth; we can't have it both ways.  We can't serve two masters.  Jesus teaches that placing HIM at the center of our lives is the way to eternal happiness. 

Today, each of us can ask ourselves if the Lord is the true center of our lives. What possessions, or status, or dream is standing in the way of our choice to completely live as he has taught us?  What things, what style of living, what desires have mastery over my lives? 

What changes do each of us need to make to place HIM front and center in our lives?

It wasn’t that long ago in our readings that Jesus teaches us that it is difficult to enter into the Kingdom of God.  He said, “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 God.”

The disciples were quite amazed at Jesus’ words.  They were all thinking along lines traditional to their culture, that wealth was a sign of God’s blessings; poverty and sickness a sign of his punishment. But Jesus refutes that traditional belief.
And the lesson is not so much about actual wealth or poverty but also about relationships.  Is our relationship to money, or to possessions, or any other person more important than our relationship with Jesus?  Keep in mind that He is offering us a treasure no money can buy and no thief can steal.

When the disciples heard just how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then, can be saved?"  And Jesus' simple reply to them is;
"For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible." 

It is not necessary that today we literally walk away from our possessions, our homes, or our families.  But instead, we need to do so in a spiritual sense; learning to put God’s kingdom - and faith - first. 

It is God’s mercy and grace that makes all things possible.

-Deacon Paul Harney