God First! (HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II (ST. BERNARD - AUGUST 20 2024)
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR II (ST. BERNARD - AUGUST 20, 2024) Ezekiel 28:1-10; Deut.32; Matthew 19:23-30 God First! In the gospel reading of yesterday, the man who approached Jesus asking what more he must do to be saved, left Jesus’ presence sorrowfully having been told to sell all that he had and give to the poor. The sorrow of this man did not emanate from the difficulty in parting with the things of this world. No! So long as we are still in this world, we will always use the things of this world. In fact, these things are not evil in themselves. Where the difficulty lies is in using them in a such a manner that we are not entangled by them such that our lives is ordered by material things. In truth, this is difficult. A rich man never thinks he has gotten enough for his mind keeps telling him what more he needs to get. Aware of this truth, Jesus testified to this difficulty in today’s gospel reading: “It will be hard for a rich man to enter the