October 10-11, 2009
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 7:7-11 Hebrews 4:12-13 Mark 10:17-27
Sometimes, even if we do everything right, the result comes out wrong. Any number of people go to great efforts to love their children, send their kids to good schools, go to PTA meetings and soccer games…and the kids may still get arrested for using narcotics, or their marriages might still end in divorce. Sometimes for an obnoxious little reason: ‘just because things happen.’ In this weekend’s Gospel we hear an echo of this as the ‘rich man’ claiming to have scrupulously followed all the formal commandments inquires of Jesus how to insure attainment of eternal life (heaven.) Keep in mind that Jesus, ‘looked at him with LOVE’; Jesus is not being a stick-in-the-mud or an obstructionist…but he clearly calls the man beyond the simple following of rules; ‘Sell what you have and give it to the poor…then come and follow me.’ We are told that the fellow goes away sad…because he was looking to keep what he had…and find the special rule that would guarantee him even more. In essence, Jesus told him that in order to have it all, he had to let go of all that he possessed…an echo of the ‘message of opposites’ : the last shall be first, the first shall be last, by dying does one live, etc. The opening selection from Wisdom speaks of the value of being able to see beyond superficiality or the quickness of the moment. In saying that entering the kingdom of heaven would be harder than passing a camel through the eye of a needle Jesus is not intentionally making it difficult…just pointing out that we strongly cling to things of no permanent value rather than shedding ourselves of them. The gift of Wisdom is what allows us to ‘read between the lines’, to not simply follow rules…but ‘do the right things’, even if it costs us. For example, your spouse (or son/daughter) arrives home in great disarray claiming to have struck a pedestrian with the car and then having fled the scene. Quick check….you already know what the right thing to do is……do you do it?
Thank you for sharing this fine autumn weekend with our Corpus Christi Community. As we get back into our Great Hall (having been out on the lawn last weekend), please make sure you take a copy of the Bulletin with you as you leave. Coming up on Sunday, October 25th is our Autumn Mass and Hoe-Down at the Apple Orchards of Oak Glen….reservation forms are on the Concierge Shelves. Please note that NEXT WEEKEND we will offer FREE FLU SHOTS after all the Masses. In addition, Fr. Ken Rudnick, S.J. will celebrate the 5:00 Saturday and 8:00 a.m. Masses next weekend. As autumn fully engages our senses and we open ourselves to the gifts of wisdom, remember, you are loved. FKB
