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Today’s Gospel from Mark describe a man asking what must I do to inherit eternal life? I want to draw your attention to the question. I am struck by the fact that the man is focused solely on his own needs. While there is nothing wrong with that the question it does say much about his level of faith development. It is very self-focused. Jesus asks the expected questions, around how he has lived his faith in the past. Jesus realizes that his possessions have impacted the man’s ability to spiritually grow.
It is clear that Jesus encourages his followers to prioritize spiritual wealth over material possessions. The issue of impact of how compatible is spirituality and being wealthy has been around since the beginning of Christianity. As a priest I have often heard the expression that Christians need to solidarity with the poor. I never felt comfortable with that for several reasons.
When I was attending a conference, the presenter suggested that rather than attempting solidarity we should be using our wealth to help lift the poor out of poverty. This makes so much more sense to me.