A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE
The fundamental change that Jesus is calling us to is clear. Leave behind being selfish people who look at others in function of our own interests, in order to dare to begin a life more in fraternity and solidarity. That’s why a rich man who faithfully observes all the precepts of the law, but who lives closed in his own wealth, lacks something essential in order to be Jesus’ disciple: share what he has with those in need.
There’s something very clear in Jesus’ Gospel. Life hasn’t been given us to make money, to be successful or to reach personal well-being, but in order to become brothers and sisters. If we were able to see God’s project with the transparency with which Jesus sees it and to understand the ultimate depth of existence with just one gaze, we would find out that the only thing that’s important is creating fraternity. Fraternal love that leads us to share what’s ours with those in need is «the only power of growth», the only thing that causes humanity to advance decisively toward our salvation.
The most advanced person isn’t, as we sometimes think, the one who succeeds in accumulating a greater quantity of money, but the one who knows how to live together in a better and a more fraternal way. That’s why when someone little by little renounces fraternity and encloses self in his own wealth and interests, without resolving the problem of love, ends up a failure as a person.
Although someone faithfully observes some norms of religious conduct, when she encounters the Gospel she will discover that there is no true joy in her life, and she’ll leave behind Jesus’ message with the same sadness that that man did who «went away sad because he was very rich».
Frequently, we Christians comfortably install ourselves in our religion, without reacting in the face of the Gospel’s call and without seeking any decisive change in our life. We’ve «watered down» the Gospel, accommodating it to our interests. But then that religion can’t be a source of joy. It leaves us sad and without true consolation.
In the face of the Gospel, we need to sincerely ask ourselves if our manner of gaining and spending money is the proper way for someone who knows how to share, or the way of someone who only seeks to accumulate. If we don’t know how to give what’s ours to those in need, something essential is lacking for us to live with Christian joy.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
