8th Week, Monday, May 27
1 Peter 1:3-9 / Mark 10:17-27
You may have to suffer, But it will purify your faith.
Near Cripple Creek in Colorado, gold and tellurium occur mixed as telluride ore. The refining methods of the early mining camps couldn't separate the two elements. So the ore was thrown away.
One day a miner mistook a lump of ore for coal and tossed it in his stove. Later, while removing ashes from the stove, he found them littered with beads of pure gold. The heat had burned away the tellurium, leaving the gold in a purified state. The discarded ore was reworked and yielded a fortune. We are like telluride ore. We have gold inside us, but it often takes some trial in the fiery furnace of affliction to bring it out of us.
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Recall some affliction that revealed unexpected gold inside us. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, no person perfected without trials.” Chinese Proverb
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We can't deny that we strive for a better life and to enjoy some of the creature comforts of life. We may not be craving for luxury, yet to desire to have something better and nicer is in all of us. And there is nothing better and nicer when it comes to money. If there is anything that we hoard most, it is certainly money.
Yes, money is indeed the key to all comforts and luxury. And we can never have enough of it. And that's where the problem lies - we can never have enough of it. But whether it is money or other tangible or intangible desires, we can never have enough of it. And as we are being swallowed up by our desires, we lose childlike virtues of humility and simplicity and trust in providence. Yet we can surely empathize with the young man in today's gospel whose face fell when Jesus told him to sell everything and give the money to the poor. And with our hearts going down with the young man's face, we may not want to listen further to the challenging message of Jesus. His message did not just end with selling and giving up everything. Jesus also promised us that we will have treasures in heaven.
As the 1st reading puts it - we have a sure hope and the promise of an inheritance that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. Hence alms-giving is a spiritual discipline to help us let go so that we can trust in God's providence and follow Jesus in humility and simplicity.
Yet the question remains - how much are we willing to give, especially if we know the money is going to the poor? Yes, that question will bug us and haunt us until we are able to slowly let go of our desires and let God into our lives.
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Monday of 8th Week in Ordinary Time
Not Willing to Pay the Price
Introduction
The first letter of Peter was written in Rome and addressed to non-Jewish Christians of the Asian region. The assistance of a secretary may explain how his Greek is rather sophisticated for a fisherman from Galilee. He begins his letter with a hymn, as some Greek authors were wont to do. Key themes of the letter, like baptism and the difficulties from the part of non-Christians, appear in this hymn.
The young man of the Gospel is proud, perhaps a bit pharisaic, to have observed the commandments since his childhood. But Jesus asks more: for the kingdom of God one must be willing to follow Jesus absolutely and give up everything else for it. Jesus’ offer is too demanding for him to be accepted. The young man was not willing to pay the price. Are we always willing to pay it fully?
Opening Prayer
God our Father, your Son Jesus, looks at us with love and he asks us to follow him generously and radically. But you know how hard it is for us not to be attached more to things and people than to you. Sustain us in our struggles to be fully free for you and people, for what is impossible for us you can do in us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Intentions
– For those in the Church, who proclaim to us the wisdom of the Word of God, that they themselves may first live it and share their experience with us, we pray:
– For parents and educators, that they may challenge the young to live for things that matter; and for the young, that idealism and generosity may keep guiding their lives, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may be deeply aware that by the grace of God we have the strength to answer the invitation of the Lord, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, our Father, in these humble signs of bread and wine, we will soon recognize the presence of your Son, Jesus Christ, in our midst. May he give us eyes and hearts of faith to recognize his real presence also, in all who are poor and do not count in this world. Make us small and poor enough to know that we owe to the poor what we owe to Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God, our Father, in this Eucharist we have encountered your Son, Jesus Christ. Let him give us the poverty of heart to follow him wherever he calls us. We may have few material things to sell and give to the poor. Make us aware of all the riches of mind and heart, of patience and love that we can share and help us to do so wholeheartedly and without regret, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Usually, an encounter with Jesus changes a person. But one can also refuse, like the rich man of the Gospel. May we have encounters with him that change us. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Wrong Question
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The very question was wrong—for it was built on a faulty assumption that we must “do” something to inherit eternal life. You do not “do” anything to get your inheritance; you just need to “be.” I inherit my parental property not because of anything I do, but because of who I “am.” When you become truly conscious of who you “are” and grow into that self, behavior proper to such a self will simply flow from you. In other words, “doing” will follow your “being” as a consequence, not vice versa. St. Peter refers to this inheritance in the first reading, telling us that this “inheritance that does not corrupt, nor goes bad, nor passes away, is reserved for you in heaven.” Had the young man been truly conscious of this, the invitation of Jesus would have thrilled his heart: to leave everything behind and walk beside Jesus, the true spouse of his soul, his eternal possession.
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Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Feast day May 27
Little is known of the early life of sixth-century Augustine of Canterbury, except that he became a great monk and was a friend of Pope Gregory the Great. Gregory appointed him to lead 30 missionaries to evangelize England. As the group traveled, news reached them of the dangerous English Channel they had to cross and the fierce tribes in England. The missionaries persuaded Augustine to return to ask the pope if they could give up the journey. Gregory encouraged the fearful Augustine and sent him back.
The missionaries, who could not speak English, were met by Ethelbert, king of Kent. The king was married to a Christian princess from Paris, so he gave them a house and allowed them to preach. But he hesitated to give up his pagan beliefs. Augustine wrote many letters to Pope Gregory, asking for advice about his work. Through Gregory, the missionary efforts in England were profitable. He instructed the men to respect local customs, to not destroy pagan temples (only the idols), and most of all, to give witness by their lives.
The monks did what Gregory instructed them to do. They preached, cared for those who were poor, endured hardships patiently, lived simply, and prayed much. By 601, Ethelbert and many others were baptized. Augustine was able to plead for more missionaries. Gregory sent more men and sacred books, sacred vessels, and relics. Augustine built the first cathedral in Canterbury. Conversion of the people was slow, and Augustine died after only seven years in England, without seeing the faith take root.
