28th Sunday Ordinary Time – Define “Rich”

Well, I’ll take a shot at defining riches. Actually, no. Matthew, Mark, and Luke highlight greed for riches as the issue. May I add: Greed has everything to do with emptiness. At least for me. And riches follow.

“Never enough! Never enough! Never enough!” 

Are all rich people greedy? Are they lonely?

Ask them (Ask yourself): “What do you do when you feel lonely or empty?”

Shop?                     Cuddle?                     Sex?                     Spend money like a bastard?

Push your company to work harder to bring in more money?                     Underpay employees?    Eat a lot of stuff you know you shouldn’t?                     Gamble with hopes for the big payoff?                     Then gamble some more?                     

Pretend to “be somebody?”                     Spend hours on Instagram or Facebook?       

Check your messages 100 times a day?                     Drink more than you said you would?    Binge-watch Netflix?                     Shop some more?                     Binge-watch sports?

Work to gain others’ esteem?                     Dream about getting lots of esteem?                   Help others to gain esteem?

 Seems to me that whatever escape-from-our-wounded-humanity is an escape toward riches to fill that “Never enough!” feeling. Why? Because, again for me, it’s so dang painful to abide in that empty space without running to fill it.

Jesus pointed this person toward freedom out of his love for him/her. “Go, sell, and give…” He directed him to choose to inhabit that empty place in order to be free.

Geez, what a downer, eh? Where’s the fun in that?