LETTING GO SO AS TO RECEIVE
Since he was five, Joel had dreamt of having a farm on which he could take care of all sorts of animals that were weak or old. His grandfather had a farm himself, and when Joel turned seven, his granddad gave the young boy a small section of land where he could keep pets and wild animals that were lost, injured, or abandoned. After school each day, Joel would run to his little farm and his granddad would help him with funds, medicines, food, and loving care for the creatures. The boy and the old man did it all together. Joel’s granddad was his biggest supporter: he was at Joel’s graduation, cheering for him; he encouraged the young man to become a vet, and always paid for Joel to travel out to the farm. Years went by, and his granddad grew frail. Before he passed away, to Joel’s shock his granddad gave him the entire farm. Joel teared up when he read the will: ‘To my grandson, Joel, this was always your land. I was just keeping it safe for you. I hope you help many more animals and continue to love and protect them. I’ll still be there on the farm with you. Love, grandpa.’
There’s an entire kingdom God is holding in trust for us. We may not realise it most of the time, but having been called by Him, every single day we’re partnering Him in taking care of His creation. He could, of course, do it all Himself. But He wants to hand it over to us one day. For that to happen, like Joel’s grandad He’s teaching us how to do it on a scale tailored for each of us.
Our Father knows we need the right skills, attitudes, and values to properly manage our inheritance. So He blesses us with different gifts and sends us to school in this world in different classrooms. Here we learn to lessons of the Teacher who, through Scripture and the Church, shows us how to nurture and grow the kingdom of God.
When Joel was studying to be a vet, he might have thought that the little farm was just something his granddad gave him as an indulgence. He might have thought his granddad wanted him to become a vet to earn a good living and make that his real job. He didn’t realise his wise grandfather knew he’d need the skills college could give him, to operate and grow the farm. He hadn’t realised the observant and loving old man was giving Joel every opportunity to fulfil his dream since he first voiced it at the age of five. He hadn’t realised how much of a partner his grandfather had been in making that dream come true.
We dream of a treasure in heaven, the eternal land of our rich inheritance, where we’ll be forever united in full partnership with our Lord. Unlike Joel, we already know we’re getting the whole farm. That’s a reason to rejoice! And our Father knows exactly what we lack and what we need. We can’t treat our lessons here as a mere To Do list: checking off each item of good Catholic behaviour and expecting to score high with God. While our actions are important, our hearts are even more so. We may get As for fulfilling our duties as believers, but to what lengths will we go, to offer up everything so as to receive even more?
Today’s Gospel isn’t just about money or possessions. It’s about love and trust. Jesus looked with love and compassion on the man who was eager to show he’d completed that To Do list. But the tragedy of the story is that the man did not believe in that love enough. He couldn’t trust that in letting go of everything, he would be receiving the ultimate treasure. He held on to his possessions but left behind so much more. Filled with sadness, he walked away.
To be a follower of Christ, we must become partners with God in the creative work of building His kingdom. This Sunday’s readings spell out what is needed:
Divine Wisdom
More valuable than material possessions or the precious things of Earth, this Wisdom that comes from God will instruct us in how to detach from the secular and cling to the sacred, so that we can grasp firmly to ‘all good things’ and ‘riches not to be numbered’ that our Father wants to give us. But we have to pray and entreat for it with sincere hearts, then let that Wisdom lead us – not worldly ambition or desires.
The Word of God
Still very much ‘alive and active’ today, Christ, the Word of God, reads our ‘secret emotions and thoughts’ and correctly assesses our hearts, which might not align with our actions. We have to keep both Christ and His Scripture alive and active in our lives, in turn. Wanting to be His follower but holding back something of ourselves isn’t going to bring us closer to attaining our eternal treasure. If we’re so deeply attached to something – like material wealth, or a spiritually unhealthy relationship, or life goals, or our free time, or even our health – that we can’t detach from it and fully commit to God, it becomes a stumbling block. And one day, we’ll have to account for it.
Trust in the Lord
Detaching from these things requires making a choice, which doesn’t come easily. Surrendering all to Jesus can be very difficult, near impossible. Saying yes to a sacramental life, for instance, means saying no to the freedom of a self-focused life. Saying yes to serving God’s other children means saying no to a comfortable life where our time and resources are ours to enjoy alone. Saying yes to letting go of addiction, pride, anger, despair, regret, means saying no to stubbornly carrying weighty baggage. Saying yes to living a faith that calls us to stand firm against secular standards means saying no to living by the precepts of the world. If we let go, we need to trust that God will be there to catch us and lead us to something even better.
Consistently praying for God’s Wisdom, letting His Word rule our lives, trusting in His path instead of our own…Jesus says these are what His followers need, on top of keeping God’s commandments. The difficulty inherent in this is what astounds the disciples and causes them to wonder, ‘who can be saved?’ It seems terrifying and impossible to make ourselves utterly dependent on God. We might feel like walking away in sadness, too. We might not have the strength to let go on our own.
But we are not on our own. God sends His Wisdom to anyone genuinely searching for it. He can change us into more courageous, less judgmental, more forgiving people. He can fill us with the strength to become better able to do what He asks of us, hard though His demands might be. “It is impossible,” Jesus tells the disciples, “but not for God; because everything is possible for God.” (Mk 10:17-30).
Today’s gospel invites us to reflect: when does Christ ask us to do more than we’re able to? Do we ask in return for wisdom and strength? Study the litany of things prayed for in the Responsorial Psalm: love, wisdom, pity, joy – even in misfortune – favour, success… the psalmist boldly entreats God for these gifts. He acknowledges that life will still be challenging, but he trusts God to give him ‘balance’, and he knows God’s love will carry him.
Consider the things we do daily at home, in school, at work, in church, in our neighbourhoods, in the larger community, in the world: for each task we carry out, if we ask for divine Wisdom – as Solomon did when he became king – we’ll learn from the mistakes we make, correct our course, and make each task holy. If we are true to God’s Word, and trust in Him to provide all that we need, we will be partnering God in turning these tasks into building blocks for His kingdom on Earth.
We are called to make a different choice. We are called to support one another in faith that when we must let go of any good thing, God is still with us. Like Joel’s granddad, God is our biggest supporter and cheerleader. He wants to give us our inheritance. He wants us to be His partners. He promises repayment a hundred times over for what we surrender to Him.
Jesus guarantees this.
‘Make us know the shortness of our life’, the psalmist prays. School won’t last forever. Joel graduated and went on to manage the farm he inherited, confident he could build it into something his granddad would be proud of, because he had the skills, the values, and the faith. School will be over for us, too, one day. Inheriting the eternal kingdom is both a great joy and a great responsibility. When it’s our turn to graduate, we want to be full and joyful partners with God, using His gifts to build His kingdom, relying on His Wisdom, and trusting in His providence.
Today, we ask the Lord for the Wisdom and courage to detach from ourselves and commit wholeheartedly to Him. As we release all that holds us Earth-bound, feel our Father fill us with the wealth of His great love, and the assurance of His promise of eternal joy in heaven.
May the radiant light of God’s Word and Wisdom light your life this week!
Article by Joyce Norma, HFC Blog Contributor