Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Many thanks to Jeff Morrow who wrote many reflection over the years. Please welcome Joel Schickel who will be writing reflections every Tuesday).
The last few years have brought the question of the meaning of life home to me in a poignant way. Over this time I have grieved for a number of people close to me who have passed away. Meanwhile it has been a joy to see my daughter, who is now almost three years old, grow into a vivacious toddler. And my wife and I are now expecting a second child, due in December. Perhaps as a result of these experiences of death and new life, I’ve found my thoughts turning recently to the question of what it is that gives meaning to life, a question that is addressed in the scripture readings for today.
The reading from Ezekiel contains God’s words of judgment against the king of Tyre. Using Ezekiel as mouthpiece, God exposes the king’s hubris in setting himself up as a god, while in fact the king is just a mortal human being like you and me. In the gospel reading, Jesus’ teaching about how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God follows a similar line of thought. What makes it so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom is that they think they don’t need God. They rely on their own strength and resources rather than on God.
There is a strong temptation for people living today in the developed world – including many Christians – to feel self-sufficient to the point that we forget we need God. Of course if we stop and think about it, we will realize that we are so very small and insignificant in relation to God. Furthermore, we must acknowledge that we need God’s help – first of all simply to remain alive but also to attain our salvation through God’s grace. In addition to God, we also need other people – we need to love and to be loved. Finally, God calls us to help our neighbor, just as God has outpoured his love on us. Yet it is so easy to forget all of this – partly because we become distracted by our successes in the eyes of society and our material wealth and possessions and partly because there is something in us that does not want to acknowledge God’s claim on us, a claim which if fully acknowledged could radically alter our lives. So Jesus seems to be telling us that the meaning of our lives can only be appreciated when we think of ourselves as dependent – first of all, on God and secondarily, on other people.
The twelve disciples are presented in the gospel reading as a positive example for us to follow. Despite their numerous faults – think of Peter’s betrayal of Jesus three times – the disciples persevere in their faith and discipleship by the grace of God and are rewarded for it. It is ultimately this which gives their lives meaning.
- Joel Schickel