Absolute Centrality of God - the Jesus Style!

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 20th week in Ordinary time

August 18, 2020: Ezekiel 28:1-10; Matthew 19: 23-30

The Rich and the Poor: how do we differentiate them? It might seem a naive question. In fact, it is. Rich are those who hold wealth and the poor are those who do not. It is fair and clear. But today, the Lord invites us to go a little deeper and understand what it means to be "poor in spirit". 

Often, being rich and a sense of arrogance is considered to be naturally linked to each other. Though its authenticity could be questioned, an arrogance arising from the wealth one possesses makes one totally ungodly - that is an undeniable fact. 

The second category are those who are rich but act discretely, but are all the time conscious that they are so discrete and decent. They consider that a great favour they do to the rest of the society, punctuating all the time the fact that they have chosen to be so considerate towards everyone! 

Yet another category are those who are rich but are humble and grateful, acknowledging everything as a blessing from above. They are conscious not only of what they have, but from whom they have it all. As St. Paul asks, 'what do we have that we have not received?' Isn't that the attitude that we need to cultivate?

Hence the real difference is not whether one has or not, whether one is rich or poor, whether one is affluent or afflicted! There is something that Jesus teaches us - the Jesus style of life. The Jesus style of life is simply an attitude of absolute centrality of God, where it does not matter whether one possesses wealth or not, whether one has abundance of riches or not; a centrality that leads to a childlike dependence on God, with total trust and absolute confidence in the provident love of God. This is being poor in spirit; and that is how I can inherit the Reign of God.