In 2009, several days after the wrath
of storm Ondoy, the news on TV sent me deeply reflecting. The news was showing
efforts to send the evacuees back to their homes. Several families, though,
could not go home even if they were very eager to. They could not go home
because there was no longer a place to go back to. They had been squatters for
years. When the relentless flood forcibly drove them away, the landowner effectively
secured his property and got rid of them. “At long last,” the owner might have sighed
with relief.
If you were in the shoes of the
landowner would you have done the same? In times of dire need, when thousands
of families, mostly poor, are displaced, hungry, thirsty, sick, afraid, and
traumatized, would you do what the landowner did? Would you be so concerned
about preserving your possessions that you would even thank heavens for the
storm that shooed away the poor out of your sight?
I admit this is a disturbing concern
especially for a serious follower of Christ. It is not that easy to let go of one’s
possessions in favor of caring for the poor.
Alas! “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than
for the rich to enter the kingdom
of God
In today’s gospel (Mk 10:17-30), Jesus
challenges the widely held belief of his time that the rich have the favor of
God on their side which is precisely the reason for the material blessings they
enjoy. The exaggeration Jesus employs is an effective way of calling the
attention of the rich who have become complacent and enslaved by their material
possessions. A well-meaning and religious rich man may fail to ‘inherit eternal
life,’ like the rich man in today’s gospel, when he cannot let go of his
material possessions to help the poor and follow Jesus. Discipleship does not
consist only in a legalistic adherence to religious precepts and commandments
like “Thou shall not do this” and “Thou shall not do that.” For in this sense, discipleship would merely
mean NOT DOING anything that is forbidden by God’s law. There is more to discipleship
than this. Following Jesus means DOING something—“GO and SELL possessions,” “GIVE
to the poor,” “FOLLOW Jesus” (v. 21). The rich man in the gospel went away sad;
he could not do what Jesus asked of him “for he had many possessions” (v. 22).
This is the essential sadness of the rich!
In plain and simple terms, the message
of the gospel is this: Those who have riches have an obligation to care for
those who do not. Failure to do this will bar them from eternal life. Material
possessions are to be had in the spirit of stewardship. God is the sole owner of everything. We are
his stewards. We have to responsibly take care of whatever is entrusted to us
for the good of all. A responsible steward delights in the abundance of
material things only because it means greater capacity to share, to serve, to
help, to save the needy from the evil of poverty. It means greater opportunity
to exercise the responsibility he shares with the Creator in sustaining and
providing for his creation.
In the Philippines
A story to end: A very wealthy man died
and faced the gatekeeper of heaven. He was led to a shanty.
“This is your dwelling place,” the
gatekeeper pointed out.
The rich man objected, “This is
disgusting! This is like the houses of the squatters in my neighborhood!”
“Well,” the gatekeeper replied, “that
is the house you prepared for yourself.”
He asked, “How come?! And whose is that
fine mansion across the way?”
“It belongs to one of your neighbors.”
“How is it that he has a mansion and I
get to live in this shanty?”
“Well, the houses here are made from
the materials that people sent up. We do not choose them: You do that as much
as you give on earth.”
If we continue to clench our hands
because of greed for wealth and material possessions and refuse to heed the gospel’s
imperative of making use of these for the needs of the poor, we might not have
a place in the Kingdom of God and might end up as squatters in heaven. And it's only fair, isn't?
