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Away from the cross (22nd Sunday Ordinary Time 2020)
Matthew 16
No one likes to live an unhappy life. But not all people live happy lives, either. Then, we ask what is necessary for a happy life or a decent life at least. Many will list money at the top of the list. Many believe we cannot enjoy basic human dignity without money because money provides food, clothes, and shelters. And if we want to do more than staying in the basic living conditions, we need more money. The more money we have, the more powerful we become to reach our dreams. Money is not only a vehicle for happiness but also a goal of happiness. This is why many people cannot stop chasing after more and more money. Money is not only the thing people want without limit for happiness. Pleasure, fame, and control are just a few examples.
Unfortunately, however, these vehicles or goals of happiness often overwhelm people and turn them into slaves. People chase after these things for the sake of chasing without actually enjoying them, just as slaves collect delicious fruit without a chance to taste them. But the most tragic fact is that slaves lose their opportunity to live their life meaningfully. When we chase after vanities, even if we possess them, we have lost a life that may lead us to salvation. Jesus asks us, “For what will it profit anyone to gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
I realize what I have or what I want to have often push me away from my cross. They take my time and turn my attention away from Jesus. My possessions demand my time for maintenance. My desires for possessions hold my eyes on the market. Do they help my salvation or others’ at all? No, they don’t. A bigger house will not help us to prepare a place in heaven. A higher-definition TV will not bring us a better vision of heaven. Popularity or fame on social media will not automatically list us in the book of life.
I don’t know any saint who both enjoyed vanities of the world and carried his cross faithfully. It seems vanities of the world and one’s cross are mutually exclusive. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus chastises Peter for telling him not to undergo his Passion. Jesus teaches us that anything that makes us avoid our crosses comes from Satan. There are too many ideas, goals, activities, and possessions in this world that attract us away from our crosses. They all promise a happier life. But why are there too many unhappy people in the world?
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By Fr Swann KimMatthew 16
No one likes to live an unhappy life. But not all people live happy lives, either. Then, we ask what is necessary for a happy life or a decent life at least. Many will list money at the top of the list. Many believe we cannot enjoy basic human dignity without money because money provides food, clothes, and shelters. And if we want to do more than staying in the basic living conditions, we need more money. The more money we have, the more powerful we become to reach our dreams. Money is not only a vehicle for happiness but also a goal of happiness. This is why many people cannot stop chasing after more and more money. Money is not only the thing people want without limit for happiness. Pleasure, fame, and control are just a few examples.
Unfortunately, however, these vehicles or goals of happiness often overwhelm people and turn them into slaves. People chase after these things for the sake of chasing without actually enjoying them, just as slaves collect delicious fruit without a chance to taste them. But the most tragic fact is that slaves lose their opportunity to live their life meaningfully. When we chase after vanities, even if we possess them, we have lost a life that may lead us to salvation. Jesus asks us, “For what will it profit anyone to gain the whole world but forfeit their life?”
I realize what I have or what I want to have often push me away from my cross. They take my time and turn my attention away from Jesus. My possessions demand my time for maintenance. My desires for possessions hold my eyes on the market. Do they help my salvation or others’ at all? No, they don’t. A bigger house will not help us to prepare a place in heaven. A higher-definition TV will not bring us a better vision of heaven. Popularity or fame on social media will not automatically list us in the book of life.
I don’t know any saint who both enjoyed vanities of the world and carried his cross faithfully. It seems vanities of the world and one’s cross are mutually exclusive. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus chastises Peter for telling him not to undergo his Passion. Jesus teaches us that anything that makes us avoid our crosses comes from Satan. There are too many ideas, goals, activities, and possessions in this world that attract us away from our crosses. They all promise a happier life. But why are there too many unhappy people in the world?