In the Gospel According to Matthew there is a story about a religiously observant and law-abiding young man who spoke with Jesus about how to be better (Mt 19:16-24).
. . . Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
Notice that the rich young man “had many possessions,” not necessarily a lot of money—that’s why Jesus counseled him to sell off some of his possessions if he needed cash and give it to the poor.
Notice, too, that he wasn’t necessarily being selfish or greedy about his possessions. It’s just that a lot of possessions requires a lot of attention and concern.
Just take, for example, having a nice and relatively new car—it needs a lot of care and attention. Suppose you buy or rent a house or apartment; it requires a huge amount of attention and work—and maybe further expenditures—before you’re comfortably settled in.
You know, I think it is often more the things that are cherished, vitally needed or not, or the matters that require our expending a lot of time and effort—and maybe cash, too—that have a hold on us (even though we presume that we have a hold on them!)
Years ago, some of my friends collectively gave me a very nice gift for my fiftieth birthday: a computer and printer. Compared to now-a-days it was a big, awkward pile of bulky mechanisms and wiring with very limited computing power.
But I was fascinated by computers and gave my new possession tons of attention—and this has never ended! Computers seem to be relatively short-lived, and new models and improvements seem never to cease being made available.
I’m computer-knowledgeable, but I have expended—and still do—huge amounts of time and effort to resolve problems and keep up with changes and innovations.
I’m not like the old Disney cartoon character “Scrooge McDuck”, rolling in delight in all his money, but taking care of things, devices, tools, and the like absorb a huge percentage of my time and effort, whether for others or myself.
The point of this reminiscence is that it’s not so much cash and bank accounts that the Lord is warning about—it’s letting ourselves be so absorbed in the care of possessions, of things, of devices, of tools, even of careers that can make it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Curiously, it’s not so much quantity that matters. It’s possible to have more greed and possessiveness over one tiny little thing than some people have over great fortunes and possessions.
I’ve always been fascinated by and attracted to St. Francis of Assisi. But it seems almost too easy to do something like divest oneself of all possessions and trust completely in the providence of God and the generosity of others.
It’s hard to have many possessions and use them sensibly and generously, and it’s also hard to resist giving them undue attention. But, due care and usage of them may require more sacrifice than just giving them all up!
14 May 2023