Growing up in a modest household we didn’t have money for a lot of frills. We never went without, and relied on good ole fun to keep us busy, playing outside whenever we had free time. After college and the Army, I started working for Saturn, and it was the first time I ever made real money. By real, I mean good money. I bought my first house, new car, my BMW motorcycle and began to travel some. Along with those toys came payments, and plenty of them. I found that the true joy I had as a kid growing up, into college and the Army had been taken over by materialism. I was happy, but I had so much more stress in my life than I had ever had in previous years. I began working more hours in hopes of making more money.
After many years, when I began to discern the call to priesthood, that big question kept creeping into my mind. “Do I really want to sell everything I own?” “What if things don’t work out, what will I do.”
After a long eighteen months, I remember sitting in my living room after my last garage sale, my friends and I had just finished doing the final cleaning. As I sat on the carpet, I remember this huge weight that had been lifted off of my shoulders. Those questions didn’t seem to matter anymore, I just knew that everything had worked out just like it was supposed to. Those material things had begun to be a road block for me to see the true face of Christ. I valued them more than I valued my relationship with God. They distracted me from pursing that intimate relationship we are all called to have with Christ and I wasn’t allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me, instead I was the one doing all the guiding. It wasn’t until I fully surrendered to God’s will that I felt that peace.
Today’s Gospel passage allows us to see that regardless of how many things we store up, how much money we have, nothing goes with us to heaven except our holiness. Our merits. Our developed relationship with our Savior. Are we making good use of our time here on earth? Are we nurturing our relationship with God the Father, with the Son, with the Spirit? Or are we waiting to start that tomorrow?
With God’s blessing, Fr. Barry
After many years, when I began to discern the call to priesthood, that big question kept creeping into my mind. “Do I really want to sell everything I own?” “What if things don’t work out, what will I do.”
After a long eighteen months, I remember sitting in my living room after my last garage sale, my friends and I had just finished doing the final cleaning. As I sat on the carpet, I remember this huge weight that had been lifted off of my shoulders. Those questions didn’t seem to matter anymore, I just knew that everything had worked out just like it was supposed to. Those material things had begun to be a road block for me to see the true face of Christ. I valued them more than I valued my relationship with God. They distracted me from pursing that intimate relationship we are all called to have with Christ and I wasn’t allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me, instead I was the one doing all the guiding. It wasn’t until I fully surrendered to God’s will that I felt that peace.
Today’s Gospel passage allows us to see that regardless of how many things we store up, how much money we have, nothing goes with us to heaven except our holiness. Our merits. Our developed relationship with our Savior. Are we making good use of our time here on earth? Are we nurturing our relationship with God the Father, with the Son, with the Spirit? Or are we waiting to start that tomorrow?
With God’s blessing, Fr. Barry
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