Twenty-eight Sunday B in Ordinary Time

Wealth must not be an obstacle to salvation (Mark 10: 17-30)
Have the right relationship with wealth in all areas.

If someone asked you: Are you rich? What would you answer? One of those who own millions in less than a decade said: “I am poor. Others have more. “

Some time ago, a priest who was building a church recalls: “An older woman came and handed me a five-hundred-crown coin with the words: Lord pastor, as much as I can, I will be happy to help build a new church.” the woman said, “Lord pastor, Lord God will take care of me.”

It’s in the human. Temptation? We long to be rich! Among us has never considered the question: If I won a million, what would I do with it? And what is a million? Television already offers a competition where you can win a million. And what about other sessions that arise and disappear, where money spins.
Someone remarked that I guess there has never been so much a person revolving around money and wealth at all as it does today. Here only about need, need, lack of funds.

In today’s Gospel, we hear the sigh of the Lord Jesus: “How hardly those who have possessions enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23).

In a relatively short gospel, we hear of a man who cannot give up his possessions, and immediately afterward, the apostles ask through the mouth of Peter, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed you” (Mark 10:28). it is difficult for those who have possessions to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:23) The event where the young man says of himself that he keeps all of God’s commandments is a lesson to understand Jesus’ words. The young man does not admit to the significant dependence on wealth that Jesus knows about. Yes, the young man asks Jesus, “Teacher, what should I do to encompass eternal life?” And it is wealth that is the young man’s most significant obstacle. That is why Jesus advises him: “Go, sell whatever you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!” (Mark 10:21)
After the words, the young man left sad. He did not accept Jesus’ counsel. Wealth made him blind. Having good eyesight is not a guarantee of true happiness. Jesus’ words, “How hard it is for those with possessions to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23), are still relevant. Peter will say, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed you” (Mark 10:28).” (Mark 10:30) Jesus does not condemn the rich. Even those with a lot of wealth can be saved if they do not prefer Him to Jesus. There were more rich people around Jesus, and their wealth also served Jesus in public. They served Jesus and the apostles with their possessions (cf. Lk 8: 3). And it was Lazarus and his sisters who welcomed Jesus with the apostles in their house. Also, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
Conversely, there may be the poor who can sin in their poverty. When one fails to take the right attitude toward wealth, Jesus speaks of difficulties, and finally uses the analogy: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the ear of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25). The right attitude towards fleeting values. Wealth often becomes a danger of not accepting God, rejecting faith. Such wealth closes the door to the kingdom of God. They desire to live only on earth, to live on earth forever. In one sentence, Jesus will give Peter and the apostles the radical truth of the doctrine, which all must give way on earth for Jesus and the Gospel. They are the closest people and precious and valuable things; it is even necessary to endure persecution for God’s kingdom. Jesus assures that whoever can do this will receive more from God here and on earth and eternal life in the age to come. Such following of Jesus is faithful following. The rich young man kept the commandments in many ways from his youth, but not in one. And Jesus asks those to whom he wants to give much on earth and after death in eternal life to keep all his commands. The apostles sensed that the way to salvation was not easy.

One of the wealthiest people, John Rockefeller, once said to his friend, “Do you know who the poorest person on earth is? He who has nothing but money.” Władysław Fedorowicz also said: “Without wealth, power is lacking for happiness, and wealth is even more damaging for happiness.” Deplorable buyers are those who can sell God, faith for temporary things, fame, career, power, status, money… If they do, they cause themselves the most harm. Jesus warns such, saying, “What shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and harm his soul ?! Or for what does a man exchange his soul?” (Mt 16:26)

Jesus also shows his love for us in these words. Although they may be difficult for someone and sometimes challenging to understand, it is still correct that we pay attention to them. If we want to be true Christians, it is not enough to keep only the commandments of the Ten Commandments because a faithful Christian keeps all the words of Jesus. Such a Christian, out of love for God, can do more than what he must. The Christian not only preserves but indeed follows Christ. The Christian does not ask what he must keep, but the Christian is nothing, and no one stops on the way to God. Therefore, the relationship to Wealth must not be an obstacle. The believer does not accept egoism and everything connected with it, but renounces it. An egoist is a slave and cannot be a happy man, and not a Christian at all. Because his Wealth is worthless, light as down, he has no value for the kingdom of God. It is time to put Jesus’ words into practice.

Because not everyone can dream as a rich man, who has been told that he died suddenly and found himself in heaven, like everyone present, he was told that if they wanted to eat, they must first pay for the food. The price for the food was meager, which made the rich man happy. There were many buffets. However, when he wanted to pay for the food with the money he took from the earth to heaven, he was tactfully warned that it was not paid by the cash he brought from the planet but by the money he distributed. The rich man grew sad, and he realized he had empty hands. How happy this man was that it was just a dream! But the plan also helped. He changed.

Why don’t we change? We postponed the correction to Wealth what all takes precedence over God! One also works on Sundays because he doesn’t have enough, even if he doesn’t have to. Another, although he can already go to church, does not go because it is easier to sleep on a Sunday morning. Another has become accustomed to living without God and has forgotten whether he does not want to accept that there is another time, that he has gained years in his life, that even diseases are reported more… Wealth often kills God in the human soul. First, he robs a person of sight, does not want to see God, robs him of hearing, does not want to hear God in conscience, and then his hands, feet, and head do what he would never have done before believing in God. The rich want more and more. Therefore, he postpones the correction tomorrow for a year… Wealth makes a man a fool. People laugh at him, and he can’t see it, he can’t hear it, he doesn’t want to listen to it, he can’t, he can’t anymore – The rich man has a lot – and he has nothing. From such a life, protect, save, deliver us, Lord.

The woman in front of the camera, when she won a more significant amount of money, declared that she was a believer and would give half to build a church in their village. When, after a year, the journalist asked the priest if the woman had fulfilled what she had promised in front of the camera as a believer, the priest sadly stated: “She gave only one percent of the winnings to the church,” and after a moment of silence he added:”

Let’s answer: Don’t we have an unhealthy view of Wealth? Aren’t we also dependent on Wealth? How do we prevent ourselves from becoming slaves, egoists of earthly things? We pray for the strength to persevere in temptations; let us pray for common sense, thank you for protection and example.