Are you rich in what matters to God?

This is the question derived from Jesus conversation with the crowd in today’s gospel. Jesus uses the story of the rich man to teach a lesson about greed and how that greed can control a person’s life. Jesus’ lesson continues with the reality that it is that very greed that could prohibit someone from entering eternal life. We all would like to think we are rich in what matters to God. The man in Jesus story sounds like it could be any of us. We all look to our stuff and enjoy possessing, owning or just having things that seemingly give us purpose and make us happy. More and more though, as I get to see people and things in this time of our history, it seems that Jesus lesson needs to be re-taught with vigor. Many of us can sit down and share stories of life when it was so much simpler. We all can share stories of times like when all we needed to keep children occupied was an old tin can or our imaginations OR, maybe a shared bicycle AND we could be busy for hours if not days. I hear of the stories of this area even 30-50 years ago and am humbled by the simplicity of all the many ways folks used to keep a good perspective on what was really important.

Now it seems at this time in our history that some people just can’t get enough things. The older generation perhaps is feeling guilty because they had so little that they want to correct that fact and shower many blessings on their children and grandchildren that end up being, “things”. More and more, the “less is more,” idea to me makes so much sense.

A well-thought-out small even handmade gift or card touches my heart than anything shiny and slick that someone just picked up in a store. The work of being thoughtful seems to have gotten lost. Yes, it is important to be rich in what matters to God, I believe, has a great deal to being thoughtful. Do we go out of our way to be thoughtful?

 have been increasingly impressed by folks who have turned their lives around and gotten back to church. It seems to me that being rich in what matters to God includes this call to be a part of a community. Yes, it is always nice to see all the families and visitors at Christmas time, Easter and MAYBE FIESTAS but, what about the rest of the year? One of the best things I like to do is to take the few minutes before Mass and try to visit with some of the folks who actually get to Mass to prepare themselves for the celebration about to begin. I also enjoy visiting with folks AFTER Mass too. In taking these few moments to say, “Hi” I am trying to connect with as many of the families to let them know I am there for them, to possibly get some insights on someone in the family that might be struggling and to just get to know more and more of the names of folks who, by now think I should have their names and family stories committed to memory. Coming to church as a family possibly having a thought full conversation about the Mass might just do us all some good. Perhaps we can try that this week. Let’s talk about something that went on during the Mass and see what each person has to say about that. It’s an easy task and won’t take too long. Let me know how it goes.

May God bless us all today and always!