28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? It is a qiestopm that many people ask the Lord when they pray or meditate on the word of God. In today's Gospel a rich young man asks this question as well. To understand what actually this young man is asking about  we need to distinguish between  the gift of eternal life and the gift of salvation.  Since our souls are immortal, even those who are not united with the Lord have eternal life, but they do not have salvation.  In other words, they do not enter the Kingdom of God.  In order to enter eternal life, one needs to be born again of water and Spirit (Baptism).  At the time of Baptism our old spiritual nature is buried with Christ and is replaced by a new creation. We are raised with Christ in the newness of life.

Through the Sacrament of Baptism, the new Christian receives the hope of salvation through Christ and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. However, there are more requirements to be fulfilled on our journey. 

Having become a new creation,  the Christian is called to  live a newness of life in   Christ. He is called to perform works that are worthy of being called Christian because faith without work is dead.

Since he still has the worldly nature within him, He needs to be reconciled with the Lord after committing sins. This is done through the Sacrament of confession. Next, being in a state of grace, He is called to receive the  Sacrament of Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Eucharist is the Bread of Life. To have life in us as sons and daughters of God, one must partake in the Sacrament of of the Holy Eucharist on a regular basis.

Finally, after having done all this, one reaches the last step which is the departure from this life to the Eternal life.  For a Christian there is no other way to obtain salvation. As the Gospel says today - it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone  who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.  In many cases the riches of this world draw us away from  our spiritual obligations  towards God and others.

The First Reading speaks of the wealth that is found in wisdom. Wisdom is more valuable than health, beauty and even the light. It guides us towards the Lord Jesus who is the way, and the truth, and the life. Wisdom should guide us the Church Sacraments that justify us and bless us with the gift of salvation. Without wisdom we are spiritualy blind. In spiritual blindness, we are like lost sheep that walk aimlesslyand are scattered by wolves.

May the Holy Spirit direct our souls and lead  us on our journey to inherit the Kingdom of God.

                                    May  God bless you  all, 

                                               Fr. Dariusz

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