Live!

The challenge for me in the gospel this weekend is to understand what Jesus is asking of me when he says that I need to make myself rich in the sight of God. God looks at me and knows I am rich not because I have made lots of money or that I come from a wealthy background. I am not rich because I have great power or that I am a celebrity and have lots of friends. I am rich because of God’s overwhelming love for me and that he has given me the gift of everlasting life. I am rich in God’s eyes because he gazes on me and he delights in me. I can become blind to my true wealth by my tendency to greed. I put my faith in what I can possess. These possessions give me a false sense of security and I think that what I possess will make me happy.

Flor McCarthy tells the story of a miser who had great deal of wealth and was looking forward to years of happy living. However, before he could make up his mind as to how best to spend his money, the Angel of Death appeared before him to take his life away. The man pleaded with the angel to be allowed to live a little longer. “Give me three days of life and I will give you half my fortune, he begged. But the angel wouldn’t hear of it and began to tug at his cloak. “Give me just one day., I beg of you,” said the miser, “and you can have everything I accumulated through so much sweat and toil.” But the angel refused his request. The miser just managed to wring just one small concession from the angel – a few moments in which to write down this note: “Oh you, whoever you are who happen to find this note, if you have enough to live on, don’t waste your life accumulating fortunes. Live! My fortune couldn’t but me a single hour of life.”

True happiness lies in living in the present moment and relishing what God has given to me.