First Reading: (Ezekiel 28:1–10)
Responsorial Psalm: (Deuteronomy 32)
Response: I kill and I make alive.
Gospel: (Matthew 19:23–30)
Reflection:
Today gospel is yet one of those challenging ones to reflect on deeply. As believers, there's always the temptation we must keep in check especially when things are going well in our lives to think that we made it happened all by ourselves; we are self-made. I remember mocking with a friend some of our richest people in society who got a magazine citing them as self made billionaires. We were like "they must have given birth to themselves, too". The point was it's a lie. Nobody is self-made. We tend to pride ourselves in our abundance, feeling that we do not need God or others.
After all, what do I need from them? I have it all going well for me.
We start feeling that we are on top of the world and, rather than remaining humble, we think we have become God Himself, or even greater.
No wonder the Psalmist says:
"In his riches, man lacks wisdom."-Psalm 49:12, 20
This is the danger of riches. This is the danger of self-sufficiency. And that is what the Gospel today is pointing out.
When that feeling comes, that because we have it all, therefore we know it all, we tends to become arrogant, unteachable, and fail to see the very vices that will lead to our own destruction.
That is why it's impossible to teach a person who feels they know it all because they think that having money, power, and influence means they know it all? We can all become victims of this. That is why a humble self reflection can be helpful.
When Jesus said in the Gospel that it is hard for a rich person to enter heaven, He was not saying that it is bad to be rich. Far from it. Jesus had rich friends in His days.
Of course, it is God who blesses us with whatever we have.
Neither does He mean that rich people are automatically going to hell. Of course not.
There are saints who were kings and extremely wealthy.
Very rich people can also go to heaven.
What Jesus wants us to understand is that we must guard against the dangers of self-sufficiency. It can pose as an obstacle to the Word of God because of self-sufficiency.
Our riches can also blind us to our faults because we think we know it all.
We can feel that we are greater than God Himself, who blessed us, and think that it was entirely by our own merits, and effort that we became successful.
Our riches can make us develop an arrogant attitude, or they can distract us from God and heaven.
We may become too attached to our riches.
And remember: riches are not only material.
Our talents are our riches.
See how talented people sometimes behave.
Our intelligence is our riches.
See how intelligent people sometimes behave.
Our skills are our riches.
Your families are our riches.
We all have riches in different capacities and categories.
In the First Reading for instance, the Lord addresses the ruler of Tyre through the prophet Ezekiel.
Because his heart had grown proud, he said to himself:
"I am a god."
Yet God reminds him:
"You are but a man and no god."
He thought there was no one as wise as he was. He believed that his wisdom and intelligence had made him wealthy.
He believed that his skill in trading had enabled him to amass gold and silver.
But his fortune had made his heart proud.
Then God tells him that his enemies will besiege him, and he will discover how helpless he really is.
He will fall into the hands of his enemies and realize just how human he is.
This is the lot of those who trust in themselves.
As Proverbs 28:26 reminds us:
"He who trusts in his own mind is a fool."
And when the glory of a person's house increases, that person must still remember that earthly glory does not last forever.
We Are Nothing Without God
Remember:
We are nothing without God.
Who we are and what we have has been given to us by God.
We are nothing without Him.
So why should we pride ourselves because of our riches?
Why should we pride ourselves because of the things we own?
Why should we pride ourselves because of who we are?
Let not our self-sufficiency get into our heads.
Do not use our power, money, position, talents, or influence to intimidate others and make them feel inferior while we posture ourselves superior.
No one, remember, dies and is buried with their riches.
When we read and reflect on today's readings, we hear a call to humility in a subtle manner.
There is nothing we have that was not given to us by God.
Not even our intelligence.
It is not simply because we are extraordinarily talented or skillful in business that we have all the wealth we have.
God has been merciful to us all.
Therefore, let's remain humble.
Then we can use what God has blessed us, to also bless others who are not as fortunate or as we are.
Our blessings should become instruments through which other people experience God's goodness.
Finally, what we have should be a bridege to and not an island between us and God. It should always point us back to God:
Who would I have been without you, my God?
What would I have been without you?
Therefore, let us not become like the ruler of Tyre, who, because of his wealth, riches, and position, felt that he had become another god.
No.
We should always remain humble.
And remember the teaching of Jesus: let our riches never prevent us from coming closer to God and from coming closer to heaven.
God bless you 🙏
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