Jesus said to his
disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is
pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide
money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in
heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is,
there also will your heart be.
“Gird your loins and
light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a
wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those
servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he
will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And
should he come in the second or third watch and find them
prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the
master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not
have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour
you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said, “Lord,
is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who,
then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of
his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is
that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you,
the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that
servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat
the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that
servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will
punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That
servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in
accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant
of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be
beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and
still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
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Reflection:
A rich man gave
everything that he owns to a charitable organization. When he was asked why he gave his material riches, he simply
said: What will I do with my material wealth, I can’t bring this to my grave
and my ownership of this wealth will not
in any way help me go to heaven when I
die.
Can we buy our way
to heaven after our journey in this world is over and done with already? No we
cannot buy our way to the kingdom of God no matter how rich we are we simply
cannot buy heaven. This is for the simple reason that heaven is not for sale
and certainly heaven is not for those who are so enamored and enslaved by their
material riches.
So, what is the key
to enter heaven? The key is to give away what you have so that others may live
and have life with what you have. Many of us cannot give even a little because
we are so possessed by our material wealth.
But what is material
wealth compared to the kingdom of God? What are we going to do with material
wealth if God has no role in our life? And if it only creates distance from our
relatives and friends? What are we going to do with our material wealth if we
cannot enter heaven after we die?
In the gospel Jesus
tells us this: Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for
yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no
thief can reach nor moth destroy (Luke 12:33).
Do you allow
material wealth to possess you? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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