Sunday Reflection, October 15: Naming What's Important

Sunday readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/101506.shtml
Wisdom 7:7-11
Psalm 90
Hebrews 4: 12-13
Mark 10: 17-30

The Learning Channel has a couple of home improvement shows that always interested me during graduate school.  Since I lived on campus, I had free cable, so I would delay schoolwork periodically to watch these one-hour shows.  (Okay, more than periodically, quite regularly.)  One in particular stands out in my mind, but I forget its name.  The show’s premise was based on helping people clear the extra junk from their homes and get organized.  I recall how difficult it was for people to decide what to throw away.  The host of the show kept encouraging people to toss the unnecessary items.  He also challenged them to name what was important in their lives.  People didn’t know what to throw away if they couldn’t first identify their personal values.

This Sunday’s Gospel challenges us to get rid of our possessions and follow Jesus.  When the rich man came up to Jesus and asked what more he could do besides following the commandments, Jesus told him to give away his wealth to the poor.  He couldn’t do that and he went away sad.  Now, Jesus is not telling us that the only way to follow him is to sell everything we own and give it to the poor.  We need to make enough money to support ourselves, but we do not need the excesses that keep us preoccupied with inconsequential concerns.  Jesus is inviting us to enter into a personal relationship with him.  The bad habits, unhealthy standards, and our dependence on things only block us from forming strong relationships with others and with God.  In order for us to remove the powerful grip that bad habits and possessions have on us, we have to name our values and our deepest needs.  This takes time, patience and prayer.

More often than not, fear keeps us from reflecting on what is important in our lives.  We might be afraid of upsetting a relationship if we speak of what we need and desire.  Or the fear of letting go of control might be so great that it is easier to continue believing that we can manage the outcome.  Remaining ignorant or oblivious to our own needs helps us maintain the status quo and resist change.  But once we place ourselves in a position where we are open to new insight, change is almost guaranteed.  Reflection and prayer help us identify what matters and what in our lives needs changing.  As the writer of the Book of Wisdom explains, “I prayed, and prudence was given to me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”

Have you ever noticed that desire to fulfill a need once identified is virtually impossible to stop?  I am not just referring to finding a candy bar when we notice we are hungry—I am talking about embarking on significant change.  We cannot help but change our behavior and make different choices when we know what we really want.  The sense of freedom and relief from whatever was controlling our lives is too great and profound.  This gift of freedom is the love that Jesus tells us we all deserve. 

Unlike the television show where change happens virtually overnight, our own transformation takes time, even a lifetime.  Jesus is the host who is always encouraging us to remove the sadness from our hearts or rid our lives of addictions.  He is constantly challenging us to identify what is really important and to leave the extra stuff, whatever it is, behind.  Fortunately, we are not alone on our journeys of transformation.  Just as last Sunday’s readings remind us, we have friends and colleagues that will help us along the way.  They, too, can be sources of wisdom and love.

JoEllen Windau