Sunday, October 15, 2006
Fr. Lagura: Rich men, poor men and the Gospel
By Fr. Flor Lagura, SVD
In the sevice of the word
THE fabulously beautiful city of San Francisco, the city on the hills overlooking the legendary bay by the world-renowned Golden Gate Bridge, is truly blessed in many ways. The balmy weather for most of the year, the bounty from land and sea, the gold rush of 1849 and the waves of immigrants made people rich, some fantastically wealthy. Many Filipinos have come to this city by the bay.
However, in this place of plenty many a man still starve. The homeless pitifully lie in the “Skid Row,” putting themselves at the mercy of the elements and occasional handouts from passersby. Soup kitchens do help them in their misery. But when winter comes, they die like flies.
The question that many ask is, how does the word of God, the Gospel centered on the kingdom of heaven fit into this picture where riches and poverty rub elbows.
To the young man who asked him how he could enter the kingdom of heaven, the Lord pointed out the God-given and time-tested Ten Commandments. And when the man before him wanted to do something more, Jesus dared him, saying, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.”
Sadly, the young man failed the test of radical discipleship and went away prompting the Lord to say, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” In the Lord’s words, it would be like passing through the eye of a needle. Astonished, the disciples asked, “Who, then, can be saved?” To which, Jesus answered, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God, for all things are possible for God.”
In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi who followed the Lord’s words of wisdom, his numerous followers give up what they have in favor of the poor. The latter, relieved of their pressing material needs, are blessed. Taking a step further, the followers of St. Francis abandon themselves to the Father just as the Son of God himself did.
In this manner their worth is not measured in the earthly riches they possess. They do not proclaim, “I am for what I have.” Rather, they attest with their lives that they are because of the love of the Father. Having done so, they receive the promised “hundred times more in this present age.”
Centuries earlier, the Franciscan missionary, Fr. Junipero Serra, consecrated this beautiful city by the bay to St. Francis of Assisi. Today, in the midst of glitter and decay, sadness and gaiety, prosperity and dire poverty, immense disparity in wages and living conditions, and a soul-less nuclear arms race, the words of the Lord should continue to challenge the hearts and rock the minds of many.
“Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” Mark 10:21
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (October 15, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
|
