We all know the parable of the rich man who comes to Jesus and asks, \\u201cWhat must I do to merit eternal life?\\u201d to which ultimately, Jesus tells him to go and sell what he has and give to the poor so as to build up treasure in heaven, and to come and follow him.\\u00a0 We don\\u2019t know if the man who went away sad because he owned much, recognized the caling to which he was being offered.\\u00a0 Maybe he went home and thought it over and returned.\\u00a0 It\\u2019s possible.\\u00a0 Perhaps he shut himself in his barn and counted his treasures and held onto them.<\\/h4>\\n It feels like a lot of people are shutting their doors and going away sad.\\u00a0 When we fail to be faithful, when we fail to be generous, we make the world less happy and we should go away sad.\\u00a0 I can\\u2019t tell you how many homilies feel like dissuasions to the comfortable sitting in their pews to consider whether or not they ought to be giving more than they have.\\u00a0 \\u00a0Jesus talks about money and the enslavement to money, and the difficulty in escaping what money blinds us to, namely the need for God, and the requirement we care for others, a lot.\\u00a0 He warns about placing one\\u2019s self in isolation through wealth a lot too.<\\/p>\\n So the question lingers on the heart, pricking at the soul \\u2013asking it, what will you give today?\\u00a0 A turnip?\\u00a0 A poptart?\\u00a0 A dollar?\\u00a0 Will you give a kind word?\\u00a0 A second chance?\\u00a0 A song of gratitude?\\u00a0 Will you recognize that each of us is the rich man, each of us on any given day, are offered the opportunity to follow Him.\\u00a0 \\u00a0Each of us also, often squander that opportunity in favor of routine, obligations, expectations, and comfort.\\u00a0 We like our relishes.\\u00a0 We want our big barns filled to the brim.\\u00a0 There\\u2019s only one response to our avarice if we\\u2019re honest with ourselves.\\u00a0 \\u201cBut for Wales!\\u201d<\\/p>\\n Life is about surrendering one\\u2019s self to God, day by day, moment by moment and it\\u2019s hard because we\\u2019d rather, given our fallen nature, sit back and feel like we\\u2019ve done our part \\u2013whatever we\\u2019ve done \\u2013and even if we\\u2019ve done a lot, it is a drop in the ocean of eternity.\\u00a0 \\u00a0We are nothing but poor ungrateful servants who only did what was asked.\\u00a0 The reality of our faith is what we live today, not all of the yesterdays.\\u00a0 \\u00a0So all that we\\u2019ve done, is negated if we opt today to embrace sin and\\u00a0 all that we\\u2019ve done, is negated if today we opt to embrace grace.\\u00a0 \\u00a0The reality is true either way, and so we should choose life.<\\/p>\\n Which brings me back to my own heart, my own soul, and I must ask myself, what am I doing, and what does God want me to do?\\u00a0 It\\u2019s a question I\\u2019ve learned I must ask every day, not because I don\\u2019t know, but because I want to know better.\\u00a0 God wants to invite us into a deeper understanding of Him, and greater love of our neighbor.\\u00a0 It\\u2019s only possible if we assent.<\\/p>\\n

{"id":3057,"date":"2024-05-27T21:53:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T01:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/?p=3057"},"modified":"2024-05-27T21:53:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T01:53:04","slug":"for-he-had-many-possessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/05\/for-he-had-many-possessions\/","title":{"rendered":"For He had Many Possessions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

We all know the parable of the rich man who comes to Jesus and asks, \u201cWhat must I do to merit eternal life?\u201d to which ultimately, Jesus tells him to go and sell what he has and give to the poor so as to build up treasure in heaven, and to come and follow him.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know if the man who went away sad because he owned much, recognized the caling to which he was being offered.\u00a0 Maybe he went home and thought it over and returned.\u00a0 It\u2019s possible.\u00a0 Perhaps he shut himself in his barn and counted his treasures and held onto them.<\/h4>\n It feels like a lot of people are shutting their doors and going away sad.\u00a0 When we fail to be faithful, when we fail to be generous, we make the world less happy and we should go away sad.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you how many homilies feel like dissuasions to the comfortable sitting in their pews to consider whether or not they ought to be giving more than they have.\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus talks about money and the enslavement to money, and the difficulty in escaping what money blinds us to, namely the need for God, and the requirement we care for others, a lot.\u00a0 He warns about placing one\u2019s self in isolation through wealth a lot too.<\/p>\n So the question lingers on the heart, pricking at the soul \u2013asking it, what will you give today?\u00a0 A turnip?\u00a0 A poptart?\u00a0 A dollar?\u00a0 Will you give a kind word?\u00a0 A second chance?\u00a0 A song of gratitude?\u00a0 Will you recognize that each of us is the rich man, each of us on any given day, are offered the opportunity to follow Him.\u00a0 \u00a0Each of us also, often squander that opportunity in favor of routine, obligations, expectations, and comfort.\u00a0 We like our relishes.\u00a0 We want our big barns filled to the brim.\u00a0 There\u2019s only one response to our avarice if we\u2019re honest with ourselves.\u00a0 \u201cBut for Wales!\u201d<\/p>\n Life is about surrendering one\u2019s self to God, day by day, moment by moment and it\u2019s hard because we\u2019d rather, given our fallen nature, sit back and feel like we\u2019ve done our part \u2013whatever we\u2019ve done \u2013and even if we\u2019ve done a lot, it is a drop in the ocean of eternity.\u00a0 \u00a0We are nothing but poor ungrateful servants who only did what was asked.\u00a0 The reality of our faith is what we live today, not all of the yesterdays.\u00a0 \u00a0So all that we\u2019ve done, is negated if we opt today to embrace sin and\u00a0 all that we\u2019ve done, is negated if today we opt to embrace grace.\u00a0 \u00a0The reality is true either way, and so we should choose life.<\/p>\n Which brings me back to my own heart, my own soul, and I must ask myself, what am I doing, and what does God want me to do?\u00a0 It\u2019s a question I\u2019ve learned I must ask every day, not because I don\u2019t know, but because I want to know better.\u00a0 God wants to invite us into a deeper understanding of Him, and greater love of our neighbor.\u00a0 It\u2019s only possible if we assent.<\/p>\n

\nWhen I asked God what He wanted of me at mass, the next day I received an email from my pastor asking me about a missionary leadership role in the coming year.\u00a0 When I\u2019ve asked in the past, job opportunities have appeared, and it felt like a big neon sign saying, \u201cSherry, look here.\u201d\u00a0 God is good at making it glaringly obvious because God knows, I need that sort of help.\u00a0 \u00a0So the challenge for you, is to ask God, \u201cwhat is it you want me to surrender, if I would build treasure in heaven?\u201d\u00a0 Be prepared to be challenged by the answer.\u00a0 Jesus always invites us to join him.\u00a0 We have to decide, not to go away sad.<\/h4>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all know the parable of the rich man who comes to Jesus and asks, \u201cWhat must I do to merit eternal life?\u201d to which ultimately, Jesus tells him to go and sell what he has and give to the poor so as to build up treasure in heaven, and to come and follow him.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4510,"featured_media":3060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[215,133,972],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-spirit-taps","category-not-an-apologist","category-teaching-others-and-myself"],"yoast_head":"\nFor He had Many Possessions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We all know the parable of the rich man who comes to Jesus and asks, "What must I do to merit eternal life?" to which ultimately, Jesus tells him to go\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/05\/for-he-had-many-possessions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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