Dcn. Tom McClelland's Homily:
        28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct 15, 2006

Well, which of your possessions do you suppose you'll get rid of first?  The TV?  A car?  Your Nintendo or iPod or cell phone?  Maybe the better question is how much will you get rid of?  Think of the question this way: what is the "anchor" in your life that's holding you back from a closer relationship with God?  Think of the question in terms of things you own as well as the life style that goes with them.  What are the things that you will simply refuse to let go of?

For many of us, these are the types of questions arise out of our first major impression of this gospel reading.  We hear Jesus' surprising words: "Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor."  Notice, he didn't say sell part of what you have.  He said sell what you have.  Everything.  The rich man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.  After the man walks away, Jesus puts the capper on his teaching by telling his disciples, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Those who heard Jesus words were "exceedingly astonished" and wondered aloud, "Who can be saved?"  It's clear that they were not ready to unload their possessions either.

In America today, we know all about "stuff" and possessions.  Whether we live in a house or an apartment or a mobile home, every room probably has many things in it.  If you have little kids or grandchildren, for example, how many stuffed animals are lying around?  For older kids, there are often numerous items of sports equipment present, or electronic games, or dozens of set of clothes — designer clothes no less.  When I last visited my oldest granddaughter, I learned that it takes a whole bathroom counter full of cosmetics to make it through the eighth grade.  (Shows you how little I know!!)    Quite a few years ago, I was looking at a country magazine and found an article about the 101 hand tools that are supposedly needed around every homestead.  I made some quick remark about how excessive that seemed to be; then I looked at the list and discovered that I already had 96 of those tools in my house and garage.  I have a relative with more stuff than he can fit in his house, so he and his wife are renting a large 14-ft high self-storage unit about 4 miles from their house to store piles of things in — and they're paying $200 a month to keep all the currently unused stuff.  I expect that many of us can easily understand the notion of having more stuff than we need.

Rather than calling it all "stuff," however, let's use the word from today's gospel: "possessions."    Perhaps we could part with many of the things we own rather easily.  {{In fact, if your things are in good condition, maybe you would happily donate a couple of carloads to the Hope Chest Resale Shop.  That would be good!}}  But after the "fluffy stuff" is gone, you would probably still have a lot of "possessions" around you.  These are the things that you truly possess, things that you really don't want to part with.  You look at these things and say to yourself, about any one of them, "That's mine."

In some ways, maybe you can see that these prized possessions also "possess" you.  You insure them against loss or damage.  You don't loan them out either, even to your best friend— or if you do, you worry constantly about them until they are returned.  These critical things that you possess, and that in some way possess you, help define your "comfort zone."  You perceive them as part of your identity, part of your life style, and you have no plan of parting with them. 

The challenge presented by Jesus in the story of the rich man in today's gospel is that we must shift our comfort zone.  We must shift our comfort zone.  He is telling us to let go of our worldly possessions; to relax our grip, our control; to give up our deep attachments to things and to situations that we are in, and to seek our comfort zone in our relationship with God.  He is saying that we must get to know him — Jesus — on a personal basis. When he says to us, "follow me," Jesus in effect is asking that we "traipse around" with him each day, to be with him in prayer, to watch him, to listen to him.  His statement to the rich man was: "Sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me."

For you and me to follow Jesus, we must learn all we can about him.  We must first of all read and study the New Testament, particularly the gospels.  St. Jerome said, "If you don't know scripture, you don't know Jesus."  And as we study scripture, we need to meditate on it and ponder it and pray with it.  And this should be a serious, ongoing part of our prayer life.  We must put our Bible and this activity into our comfort zone.

When the rich man first came up to Jesus, Jesus reminded him of the ten commandments, and the man acknowledged that since his youth he had not killed, had not committed adultery, had not stolen, had not borne false witness, had not defrauded, and he had honored his father and mother.  The gospel says that Jesus looked and him and loved him in his heart.  The man had walked the straight path and had avoided serious sin — but he wasn't assured of heaven.  Many of us, I think, could probably check off about the same list of things that we did not do.  But Jesus then tells the man one more thing he must do.  He must get out of his worldly comfort zone and follow Jesus.  The man must see what Jesus does, and then do likewise.    That's what we must do, as well.

We can look upon this rich man perhaps as a curious man.  He was curious to find out what he must do beyond the commandments, the don'ts, in order to assure eternal life and have true intimacy with God.  Maybe, in his curiosity, he was expecting an answer such as this: "Well, let's see, besides following the commandments you should fast one day each week, pray ten minutes each morning and night, and go to Confession every other week."  But curiosity is not the same as desire.  The man clearly did not expect Jesus to tell him to give up everything he'd worked for, to have a change of heart, and to get out of his worldly comfort zone.  If he had had a truly deep desire to ensure his inheritance of eternal life, however, he would not have been so crestfallen.  He would have swallowed hard and taken steps to comply.  But he didn't have the true desire.  He walked away.

In the First Reading, we were given a very big pointer as to how to shift our comfort zone from worldly things to seeking a deep relationship with God.  We must pray for and seek wisdom and prudence as Solomon did.  Wisdom is the knowledge of God's truth, and prudence is using that knowledge in the management of our affairs—in other words, making wise choices in all of our day-to-day decisions based on God's truth.    It is in Jesus that we encounter the Wisdom of God, so again we come back to the need for us to study and learn more about Jesus—to constantly be his follower and disciple.

Today and this coming week, try to examine and define your current comfort zone.  There are probably certain possessions of yours that will help identify your comfort zone.  Along with your key possessions, your comfort zone will involve your routine activities—the things you do and the people you frequently interact with.  Then ask yourself: how much of your comfort zone has anything to do with your getting to know Jesus better?  Or is he not even in your personal comfort zone?  Are you willing to get out of that comfort zone, or are you only curious about getting to heaven.  Are you seeking and praying for wisdom?  Are you willing to let go of any and all of your current possessions?  Are you willing to give up tight control of your life and let the Holy Spirit lead you?  Following Jesus will no doubt bring some trials and persecution and suffering into our lives, but the rewards are for eternity.  Shift your comfort zone to your relationship with God.  If you are married, strive with your spouse for a mutual comfort zone with God.  Pray about where God is leading you and what he wants you to do.

God bless you.