This week’s readings encompass a variety of themes. Two that stand out are Wisdom and Surrender. In our first reading from the book of Wisdom, the writer prizes wisdom far above gold and diamonds. He states that nothing can compare to this wisdom which comes from God. It is priceless. Do we value wisdom? When God gives us that “ahaa” moment, or a deep spiritual understanding of something, do we thank Him? We need to cherish and value these insights. The letter to the Hebrews picks up on this thought as it speaks about the word of God, Sacred Scripture, being even sharper than a two edged sword. Why? Because God reveals Himself in His word and sometimes we don’t want to hear it. It makes us uncomfortable or cuts right through the paper menagerie of our sinful thoughts, piercing us in our soul.
This leads beautifully into our Gospel passage, as our Lord encounters a young man whom he loves and who has stated that he has lived the commandments. Jesus, who is wisdom itself, incarnate, sees his heart and tells him to sell his possessions. The man walks away because he has many possessions. Jesus asks nothing less of us. We must surrender all we have and are to Him. In some areas, we are very good at this, but when His words get too close to us, we pull away and say things like “Lord I will give you every part of my life…except this part”. We sometimes hide sinful behavior from God by pretending that “He will understand, this is my life and I will do what I want”. We like to put words in our Lords mouth to justify our actions. Not so fast. Our Lord demands all of us, not just parts or pieces. It is not easy; just ask the rich guy who walked away. Now it is our turn.
So, this week take some time and reflect on what parts of our lives or behaviors have we kept from the Lord. What little thing are we still clutching on to that we don’t want to give up. Ask God for wisdom and then lay these things before the Lord. Go to confession and get made whole and healed from these things that separate you from God. If you do so, you will be truly wealthy and wise with graces and blessings more valuable then diamonds, and you won’t walk away from our Lord. Something to think about…May God richly bless you always…
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