Reflections of Caritas

"How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" – Mark 10:23

Take a moment and tally up all the “stuff” you have. Perhaps you’re reading this on your computer or phone. You’re wearing clothes (I hope!). Most likely, there is food in your refrigerator and possibly a car in your driveway. You might have several books or movies.

“Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  – Mark 10:14

The Scripture readings for this Sunday tie the creation story of man and woman found in the Book of Genesis to Jesus’ teaching about marriage in the Gospel of Mark. The Lord affirms that humans have been made in the very image of the Living God and that this is expressed through the complementarity of the male and female sexes. He explains that, through marriage, God unites a man and woman as “one flesh” in a bond that is not meant to be broken.

“Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!”  – Numbers 11:29

When most people think of a prophet they envision a shrouded figure peering mysteriously into a crystal ball, but the real prophets in the Biblical tradition were not fortune-tellers. The word “prophet” comes from the Greek pro-phanai, which means “to speak for someone or in the name of someone.” The prophets were God’s messengers and mouthpieces for communicating His will to the Israelite people.

“Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.’”  – Mark 9:36-37

What is your goal in life? What do you want? 

Wealth? Power? Pleasure? Honor? 

The world offers us many things that masquerade as answers to our desires, but in the end, whether we realize it or not, the only thing that can fulfill us is union with God. In order to be truly happy we must conform our lives to the laws of the Lord, which often contradict the fashions of the world.