Wealth Burden

Are we there yet?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, "Then who can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:23-26

Two years ago, after reading today's Gospel, I starting a campaign to save the rich.  The hashtag was picked up and used on Twitter to sarcastically slam the rich and the policies that people feel protect their wealth.

But that was not my intent.  I was not fueling the envy of the 99% against the wealthiest.  I was asking us to pray for those who are burdened by wealth to the extent that they lose sight of what is truly valuable.

Now, you may have noticed that over the past decade, more and more of the ultra rich have turned their fortunes into instruments of good, starting foundations to help people in need.

God is working on them.

But what about our meager riches?  How is God showing us what we can do with what little we have?

We go through phases in life, beginning with little to call our own, then adding as we can afford more, until we find ourselves calling JunkLuggers or having tag sales to unload the excess.

When we set out to go on vacation, we don't pack everything.  Instead, we take what we will need to wear and use on the trip, and leave everything else behind.  It is not that those things are not wanted or valuable to us.  We just don't need them on the trip.

That's how I look at the Kingdom of God.  It is like a vacation where most of what I will need is provided.  There is little I need to take.

So, instead of bashing people who have accumulated a great deal of wealth, we might just want to encourage them to see the light and know that stuff can be unloaded.

And while they are unloading, why not help a few people along the way?

If I feel you have more food on your table than you can possibly eat, I don't try to take some from you.  Instead, I invite you to come and eat with me.

When you see how little I have, you might decide to bring something to share.

That's how it works at Caritas where we feed the hungry and aid the poor.  We invite all to come, volunteer, eat with us.  And over time, people share.

So, the gospel metaphor about the eye of the needle is a reminder for me that too much stuff slows us down.  It makes the journey harder, and it takes the fun out of having made it.

So, why not find a lighter burden to carry, or find a whole bunch of people who can carry it with me?

Then we can all save the rich life for all.

More to come...