Today Jesus challenges us by advising us to, “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 or moth destroy.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” This is not always the easiest thing for us
to accept let alone live it out. We live
in a world where more, better, and easier is the driving force in our lives. There are moments, like in today’s Gospel and
in other moments of self-realization that I have just way too much stuff or why
do I always need the latest thing or gadget?
I’ll share with you one such moment I just recently had with this
struggle of wanting, needing, and desiring more and better stuff.
My moment of realization came in following Pope
Francis. This man is some pope and a
great one at that. He is a pastor at
heart and very down to earth, you have heard the stories, i.e. paying his own
hotel bill after he was elected, shrugging his shoulders as in “who me” on
returning to the Sistine Chapel after his election when he presented himself to
his brother cardinals, and recently demanding that he be driven in a 2005 Ford
Focus instead of a Mercedes Benz, and still occupying his simple room at Santa
Marta. But a big moment came when he
asked all the ordained who work in the Vatican to truly consider selling their
upscale vehicles, i.e. BMW’s and Mercedes since those types of vehicles do not
embrace the spirit of poverty. A new
sheriff is in town and he’s laying down the law.
This example of a “spirit of poverty” really moved
me and it moved me quite significantly, for just recently I was regretting not
getting a “Technology Package” in my Kia Sorrento which I purchased last
year. I really wanted to have the 7inch
built in dashboard display with navigation, but because they sometimes make you
buy other stuff coupled with that I could not afford it. So, about a month ago I went to Best Buy, my
favorite and most dangerous store, I inquired about replacing my existing
radio. The sales representative did a
good job and after explaining everything to me and all the parts that I would
need, labor, etc. the total would cost me about $800.00, this was much cheaper
than the original “technology package” since that ran around $2,000 dollars. As I am driving home from Best Buy I am
listening to Catholic Radio and they are talking about the spirit of poverty
that Pope Francis has embraced and I hear this thing about asking his clerics
to sell their high end vehicles. Well,
this haunts me for days. I wrestle
almost constantly with why I should have the built-in navigation as opposed to my original
unit and I justify by telling myself it’s cheaper, it’s safer, it’s what I
wanted in the first place, and lastly and most importantly I deserved it.
After about three or four days I gave in to the
Lord, He won the wrestling match and I brought everything back. I did speak with the technician who was to
install it and after much conversation about what I already had and what would
needed to have been done, he said, “Father, thank goodness you brought it back
because it would have been a very difficult installation and there was no need
to replace your unit just for navigation purposes, too much tricky wiring and
the loss of what you already have, i.e. steering wheel controls, your original
blue tooth and antenna.” I walked out of
there relieved. Now, I am not patting
myself on the back, trust me I have failed more than I have succeeded in this
regard. I share this with you because I
imagine we all struggle with this, wanting more of the world than of Jesus.
Pope Francis, a true pastor has asked to look to the
spirit of Jesus and His spirit of poverty.
Pope Francis has also taken on the name St. Francis of Assisi, a small
man in stature but a giant in the faith, a man who always knew and always lived
this idea making his treasure Jesus Christ.
So, where are you at in your life, where is your heart, look to your
treasure and you will find the answer.
FJ
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