On this twelfth weekend after Pentecost, the combination of readings that are assigned present an interesting but also very poignant message. In the section from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians, he presents the idea of the importance of the Resurrection of Christ. In the portion from Matthew’s Gospel that is read, the real issue of the danger of worldly riches is addressed. What type of coherent message can we derive from these two readings?

Let me first address the Gospel message. The topic of the danger of worldly riches is presented in the following context. A rich young man asks Jesus what good he must do in order to possess everlasting life. Jesus first tells him that he must keep the basic commandments. The young man replies that he is already doing that and wants to know what he must do in addition to keeping the commandments. Jesus   simply tells him that if he wants to have the fullness of life he should sell your possessions, and give to the poor so that he might have his treasure in heaven.

The young man, because he is rich, goes away sad for his possessions were many. He was still too tied to the things of this world to be able to seriously deal with his spiritual life. In effect he was asking Jesus: How can I be holy without really changing my life. In effect he wanted his cake and eat it too.

To be holy requires real change! It requires that we give up in our hearts and minds the things of the world and concentrate our attention and efforts on storing up treasure in heaven.

This is difficult for most people to do. Like the young man, many would like to be holy without changing and without detaching themselves from the things of this world. A part of it, I think, is the fear of what will happen to us if we do direct all of our   attention to storing up our treasure in heaven. Will we have to give up all the things of this world?

The reason why Paul’s message is very valuable in this context is precisely this: the fact that Jesus rose from the dead is true proof that living like He lived is the way God intended humankind to live in order to have the fullness of life.

The biggest question that most people ask is this: Do I really have to give up all that I have and give to the poor in order to have fullness of life? The answer is that what we have to give up is our attachment to the things of this world. When we think more about the things that we have than about how we live, we cannot possibly experience the fullness of life.

It’s our choice!