Homiletics of the Fathers of The Island of Patmos

THE PROBLEM IS NOT WEALTH, BUT THE MAN WHO BECOMES A SLAVE TO WEALTH INSTEAD OF USE OF WEALTH

Ithe famous Lutheran pastor Martin Luther King wrote: “Life is sacred. Property is meant to serve life, and as much as we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal essence: it is part of the earth on which man walks: it's not the man ".

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Author:
Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci, o.p.

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Meditation on the Holy Gospel of the XXVIII Sunday of ordinary time

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“Prudence”. In the picture: Father Gabriele Giordano M. Scardocci in prudent march on the Lungotevere with the scooter”

on this Sunday through the readings from the Liturgy of the Word, the Lord wants to give us advice on how to live a life of authentic faith more and more, the one that does not require a simple profession of I believe, but a lifestyle that is committed and strives to live what you believe.

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When learning first aid practices, or those of civil protection, there are theoretical principles of guidance and orientation to choices that must then be updated to take effective action to safeguard and defend citizens and the sick. On this XXVIII Sunday of ordinary time the Lord reminds us that the gift of Wisdom is necessary and indispensable to be disciples, so that all of us, however limited, fragile and sinful, thanks to this gift we tend to imitate Jesus and his life. The first reading speaks of Wisdom:

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«I prayed and prudence was lavished on me, / I begged and the spirit of wisdom came into me / I preferred it to scepters and thrones, / I estimated wealth in comparison to nothing ".

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The Author of the sacred text he admits that he prefers wisdom to even the greatest riches, even to royal power. Precisely because wisdom allows us to acquire the key to understanding the hidden treasures of the divine mysteries. Reality that if assimilated and made your own, they are not abstract theories or arid doctrines, but they change the gaze on the world and on everything that happens. This spirit of Wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit who allows us to taste and assimilate all the truths of faith that we profess in I believe. It is therefore a vivid way, experiential and authentic to live the faith, an almost concrete contact with the sacred mysteries, that we can have during a deep prayer.

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Take a sapiential orientation on the world is what helps us to recognize also the path that God gives us. Today's Gospel tells of a rich young man who presents himself to Jesus with an enviable “curriculum”: he followed the commandments with heart from his youth. He probably did it with conviction. But now the passage is missing nail. And that's where the young man goes into crisis. Jesus asks him to follow him after he has sold all his possessions to obtain a treasure in heaven. At that point the young man leaves. In private, the Lord then explains to the apostles:

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«How difficult it is, for those who have riches, enter the kingdom of God! […] How difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, that a rich man enters the kingdom of God ".

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Jesus does not condemn the rich in and of themselves as rich, but in this case it exposes the difficulty of continuing on a path of holiness if material wealth is something rooted in man, when wealth tends to eliminate any spiritual and divine horizon. Or when at the same time, the richness, focuses all human attention on earning, on immoderate possession, making you forget that material goods, such as money or real estate, yes, they are very important means, but still means that must help us to become true disciples of Jesus.

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The Gift of Wisdom is the only true wealth, because together with grace it prepares us to evaluate all that we possess in the light of eternal life; it helps us to distinguish the ephemeral from the eternal, giving us a free look, right, prudent and harmonious. And with this freedom we can become generous in charity towards neighbor and prodigal only in the love of God. Ithe famous Lutheran pastor Martin Luther King wrote:

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“Life is sacred. Property is meant to serve life, and as much as we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal essence: it is part of the earth on which man walks: it's not the man ".

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We ask the Lord to be ready for his call to leave all superfluous, drop all the ballast of our life, to live an authentic Catholic life and walk the eternal paths of holiness.

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Amen.

Rome, 10 October 2021

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