OMELIE / Omelie EN

14 ott 2018

14/10/2018 28th Sunday in O. T. - B 

14/10/2018 28^th Sunday in O. T. - B 

Reading 1, WIS 7,7-11 * Psalm 89 * Reading 2, HEB 4,12-13 * Gospel, MK 10,17-30

The first reading begins by telling us that prudence and wisdom are gifts that you can get through prayer, gifts valued as more precious than all the gold that you can find in the world. In fact, what is gold in the dummy's hands? It is nothing more than some sand, or even worse: gold, in the hands of whoever does not obey God is a source of pride, of envy, of prevarication, of death. The treasure to look for more than wealth, "beyond health and comeliness", is wisdom! Wisdom enlightens the entire life, it shows its entire meaning, it orientates it in every circumstance towards peace and communion, towards harmony between each other, with God and with men. You can get it through prayer: God gives his treasures away with generosity, but he gives them to whom appreciates them, to whom desires them with all their heart! God gives them, then, to whom insistently asks for them, with that insistence typical of whom is in love. It is thirsty for wisdom also the man that, as the Gospel tells us, runs towards Jesus and kneels down in front of Him. He wants to know how you can reach everlasting life: he became aware that his wealth does not fill his heart; he became aware that not even his effort to live honestly keeping all the commandments gives him the deep peace and the fullness for which the human heart is hungry and thirsty. He understands that Jesus is the only one that can answer his question, therefore he runs, with the certainty of receiving a word that will open for him new possibilities. Jesus, first of all, turns him towards God. Whoever turns to Jesus cannot expect a magic answer: He Himself is referring to the faith, that faith serene and trustful that is always ready to obey, to take seriously the word coming from the mouth of the One that has been sent by the Father.

Jesus makes sure, then, that this man is searching peacefully and seriously. He asks him if he has already started obeying the commandments given to everybody. Of course he did. The commandments has been given in order to prepare men to donate themselves to the Son of God. After this, to calm the thirst of the heart, there is only one step more to take: seriously welcome God's gift, that gift that has in itself all the Father's wisdom and science; and this Gift is not a "thing", not even "something your deserve", but a Person with whom to start a relationship based on exclusive and complete love. God's gift is Jesus, the man Jesus, the Son, the One who stands in front of him. Fullness and peace enter the man's heart, when he welcomes Jesus and he puts Him on top of everything: before wealth, before certainties, before the dearest of the relations.

The man kneeling in front of Jesus is not able to take this step, and he remains sad, sadly attached to his old treasures that do not renew his life, do not rejuvenate him, but they make him every passing day older. Having kept the commandments turned out to be useless for him. His religiosity does not let him reach the goal of the fullness of life that only Jesus can give.

The disciples that have welcomed Jesus, and for Him they have abandoned everything, do not understand either. They have taken the important step, but they did it only on the outside. They have indeed abandoned everything to be with Jesus, but in their heart they have kept the hope to be given back the very things they have left: for them wealth and the worldly treasures are still important. They too need to reach a new understanding, a new knowledge of their Lord, a new love for Him, so new to be able to overcome the love for the worldly things, disregarding their attractiveness. Their love for Jesus needs to even reach or surpass the love their loved ones are expecting from them, including parents and children.

Such a strong decision seems impossible. Of course, the Lord says. The ability to make such a strong decision can only be a gift of God's: "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God".

It is necessary, therefore, to pray and beg to obtain the true wisdom, the ability to be completely united to Jesus, the Father's gift. He is that word living and effective, that cuts and painfully enters the man's limbs, that uncovers his secret thoughts and his feelings and judges his desires. Jesus is the Word that wounds, but in order to cure, to regenerate the whole person, to fill with light and joy, to make the heart able to love with God's love, giving it, in this way, that perception of completeness and life that it has always longed for. Jesus is the word that frees the man from those things that tie and block him, making him able to show a greater and more respectful love towards his parents and children, as well. Jesus is truly the wisdom necessary in order to live and reach the Father!

Give us, oh God, the wisdom of the heart!