Monday, August 16, 2004

1:27 am

The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Ezekiel 28:1-10
Deuteronomy 33:26-28,30,35-36
Matthew 19:23-30

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

"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."

Today we have the oft-misinterpreted gospel of the rich man entering
the kingdom of heaven....Very often we can feel a sense of guilt when we
want more for ourselves and our family...when we aspire to material
success. I think this is a negative aspect of conditioning we have
carried with us from previous generations....Riches or wealth in itself
is not bad or good...it is our relationship to wealth which determines
how positive an impact it has in our lives...

Material wealth or success can be very distracting...it adds complexity
....suddenly we have more responsibility, more to manage...we plan
more...we work on building an illusion of security for ourselves...the
accumulation of wealth can build fear...we have more to lose...more to
protect....we become less dependent on God's providence...growing more
dependent on our sense of "control"...But when we recognise material
wealth as a gift from God...not ours to own necessarily...but a resource
available to us to function in the material world...it's control on us
diminishes...and we gain a healthier perspective....

Jesus calls us to live in the NOW and to be ready to enter the kingdom
of Heaven...that means being able to recognise the gifts we have in our
lives yet being able to give up attachment to those gifts...so that we
remain free and open to God's divine plan....

- Cliodhna Doyle
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