Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
October 10, 2021
You’ve heard the expression, “How hard can that be?” We usually employ it to point out the obvious ease or simplicity of some task. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus shocks his disciples by saying–not once but twice–how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. “How hard can that be?” Impossible, Jesus declares, without God’s help.
Our culture looks up to and encourages us to become like those with wealth and power. We at least want to have enough of the worlds’ goods to ensure security for our families, and to provide for the future in an uncertain world. And yet there’s an element of the Kingdom that pushes us to consider the alternative.
Today’s Gospel recommends, even urges, divesting ourselves of goods and attachments for the sake of God. To take the risk of letting go–of seeking alternatives to possessing more and more–in a society that promotes “conspicuous consumption”, that is indeed an impossible task without God’s help.
I can’t begin to spell out what such alternatives might mean in your particular case–I confess to having enough trouble living up to my own religious vow of a simple and unattached life! But I do take heart in Jesus’ assurance that God wants to work with us to explore the possibilities! That brings the Kingdom a little closer for me when I hear these Scriptures.
