The Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, B October 14, 2018
Fr. Albert St. Peter’s, New Iberia
Scandal, crisis, confusion. Priests against bishops, cardinals against each other, and bishops versus the Pope himself. We are rocked by ongoing revelations of abuse cover-ups. We are faced with a continually declining attendance at Mass and all the sacraments. We see the world becoming more secular, even hostile towards the faith. What happened?
Well, many things happened, but the foremost is this: we reversed the order of the Great Commandment. The great commandment is to love God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. It’s really two, connected commandments, but there is an order to them. Somehow, within the past 60 years or so, we flipped them, at least at the level of public communication and institutional image. We tell people to love God and all, but the dominant message for my whole life – and from what I’ve seen, the whole life of my parent’s generation – has been “love your neighbor. Serve others. Be nice.” Not a bad message. And one that, especially in the social climate of the 60s and 70s, was pretty well liked by the world. But it’s not the first commandment. It is the second.
And when you put second things first, things get messy. Very messy. Now, a quick look at this Gospel might give you some grounds to challenge this claim. When the young man asks Jesus what to do, Jesus only lists the commandments that have to do with our neighbor: stealing, murder, lying. No mention of the sabbath day or the Lord’s name. When the young man presses the issue, Jesus doubles down with more love of neighbor: “sell all you have and give to the poor.”
But that is a superficial reading. Jesus is being indirect here, but his real goal is to get this young man to truly put God above everything else. And its starts with the very first words he speaks. “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” A lot or people hear this and think Jesus is telling the man not to call him good. But that’s not what he says. He asks a question to invite the young man to a deeper reflection.
Jesus is God, so this is a nudge for the young man to make an act of faith, not a humble request to not be called good. And the way the story ends confirms this. This young man is looking to enter heaven, to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, yes, but note what it is that will make the man perfect. We cannot stop at “sell all you have.” No, he says “come, follow me.” You understand? Jesus is saying that perfection and heaven are possible only if we follow Jesus. Yes, not killing and stealing from our neighbor is important. Yes, he does tell him to give his stuff to the poor. Still, all of that leads up to the most important thing: follow me.
To drive this point home, Jesus gives an extreme comparison. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter heaven. Massive animal, super small opening. The disciples rightly exclaim “who can be saved?” Jesus’ answer is not “everyone who serves the poor can be saved.” It is not “rich people who give their money away can be saved.” No, it is “all things are possible for God.” He doesn’t say it outright, but the implication should be obvious. God has to come first if you want to go to heaven.
The reason that Jesus wants the rich man to sell his stuff is not because giving to the poor will save him. It is so that he can be detached enough to follow Jesus, to love God with his whole heart, mind, and soul. Contrary to what the world says, the number 1 mission of the Catholic Church is not to serve the poor. It is to love God. We serve the poor because we love God and they are made in his image. We serve the poor because we love God and God told us to. The second commandment – love of neighbor – is like the first – love God above all – but it is not the same and it is certainly not more important.
That’s why we don’t care if the world criticizes us for having beautiful churches and priceless art that could be sold and given to the poor. If these expensive and beautiful things serve the love of God – and many of them do – then they are already doing the most good they can. Love of God must always come first. The whole point is that love of neighbor and love of God can’t really be separated. To love one without the other is to love neither. Still there’s an order. When you reverse that order, when you put your neighbor above God, you end up loving neither.
When we cease to put God first, we quickly distort the truth. Society starts to believe that it is “love” to kill someone because they aren’t perfectly healthy. Governments think it helps the poor to forcibly sterilize them. The world it serves the least among us to mutilate their bodies when they are confused about their gender. And worst of all, even leaders of the Catholic Church lose sight of their real purpose. They have synods and publish documents to try to please the world and end up suggesting that some sins are not sins anymore.
Is that love? To tell someone it is okay to do something that could put them in hell? Of course not. But that’s what happens if you flip the commandments and put love of neighbor above love of God. There will always be men in the Church who put themselves first. Men who pretend they “love” their neighbor by watering down the truth or hiding serious crimes to avoid “scandal.” But, so long as there are also men and women who love God and His truth above all else, true love will win.
And what can you do to help? Be someone who loves God above all else. Pray for the that grace. Examine your life. What is your daily priority? Yourself? Others? Or God? Why do you come to Mass? To get something? To look good? Or to worship God in the way he asks us to worship Him? And, when someone you love asks you to do what is wrong, to agree with or help them to commit sin, what do you do? Do you let love of neighbor, or even of family, override your duty to God?
Because Love of God must come first, our neighbors may feel like we don’t love them. They may think our stance is rigid or judgmental, but they are not the ones who decide what love is. God is love. In the end, His opinion of our love will matter most. You must love your neighbor, but only by following God will you know what love truly is.