Monday of Week 29 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr
Ephesians 2:1-10 | Psalm 99:1-5 | Luke 12:13-21
[The title is not a typo.]
We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it. (Ephesians 2:10)
“Living the good life” is something every human being aspires to; it’s what constitutes “the good life” that varies from person to person
…from “cars, properties, a fully-stocked wine cellar, luscious meals served by personal servants”
…to “at least one square meal a day, a loving family, clothes and shoes without holes, not having to worry about the electricity or water being cut off”.
I’m personally in between the two extremes: As many square meals as I need, far too many books to read in my lifetime, the option (at least for now) to travel on yearly pilgrimages, fairly good health…but unable and unwilling to fully retire.
Oh, and enough time to write about my personal relationship with God every night. Sweet.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
As far as I can tell, Jesus has never decried rich men for being rich. Instead, the Gospels point to their unhealthy relationship with their possessions
…from the faithful young man who was nevertheless unable to let go of his riches (Matthew 19:16-26, Mark 10:17-27, Luke 18:18-27 – a rare repetition across all the synoptic Gospels, so the message must really be important)
…to the parable of the sower:
As for the part that fell into thorns, this is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life and do not reach maturity. (Luke 8:14)
…to the parable of the rich fool and Jesus’ general admonition in today’s Gospel:
Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs. (Luke 12:15)
Jesus’ advice is sound, because avarice divides us from each other, setting me against more-well-to-do you, inciting jealousy and initiating a thousand “rich races”.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, whose feast we celebrate today, was very much concerned with unity of the church:
Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when you assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith. Nothing is more precious than peace, by which all war, both in heaven and earth, is brought to an end. (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, Chapter 13)
And another St. Ignatius pointed the way to a healthier relationship with our “stuff” (emphasis mine):
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
all I have and call my own.You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me. (Suscipe, St. Ignatius of Loyola)
Like him, let us surrender control over everything we have to God. Let us consider giving away our excess fully and freely, simultaneously letting go of the mental “shackles” of physical ownership that distract us from seeing God in our fellow human beings. Let us give especially of our precious time and energy, helping the poor and needy in whatever way we can.
For as Jesus reminded us:
I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:40)
Lord, help me let go of the things I don’t actually need, for my good and the good of everyone else around me.
Yikes!
Amen.