Finding freedom in the temporary

Oct 12, 2024

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11;
Hebrews 4:12-13;
Gospel: Mark 10:17-30 or 10:17-27

In 1998 and 2008, Singapore film producer and actor Jack Neo made two movies entitled Money No Enough and Money No Enough 2. These two movies showcased the story of three brothers with their families. The eldest brother has the most children but has the least money; the second one has only one daughter but is considered the most well to do among them and the youngest one has no children but is always aspiring to make it big in life.

At the end of the first movie, the youngest brother (if I remember correctly) reflected on their lives and saw how they compared to one another. The eldest brother and his family have the least money and yet they were happy and could spend time together as a family and enjoyed the simple things in life. The second brother has the most but is never happy and never bonded with his family and the youngest one never appreciated what he had in the person of his devoted and loving wife but always craved for more.

This kind of story may seem to be very cliché but it speaks volumes about our human nature. Money has always been a point of contention among people; it can break families up and drive friends apart. However, is money the real reason for such clashes? Will a family who has less be happier than a family who has more? Does it mean that only those who have less will enter the kingdom of heaven and the rich will not be granted access? If we read today’s Gospel the answer would seem to be a resounding yes. Unfortunately, that is a rather superficial answer.

Let us examine a hypothetical scenario. There are two men – one who is extremely wealthy and the other is extremely poor. Even though the first man is extremely wealthy, he is generous and is always ready to lend a hand to anyone who is in need. For him, money is meant to be used and not to be hoarded. The second man is always angry and bitter for being poor, blaming everyone for his condition. One day, the poor man wins the lottery and is suddenly flushed with money. However, he doesn’t share it with anyone but instead hoards it. He dismissed people who asked for help and forgets that he was once poor. Hypothetical as this may be, I think the chances of this happening is quite likely.

In actual fact, it is not the question of being rich or poor, or having little or more money. It is the love of money and the interior disposition of a person that will determine a person’s behaviour towards others. A person can be wealthy but at the same time not attached to what he has. His interior disposition is such that he is not attached to anything that he owns and is always willing to part with them. A person who is poor can be nasty if they suddenly become rich, especially if he forgets how he was poor in the first place. Perhaps he is also afraid to lose the new things he has gained. Whatever a person’s disposition may be, there is something that we can use to guide us — wisdom from above.

A person who is endowed with the wisdom of God will come to understand that every created thing will eventually pass away. Riches can never come with us when we die. This truth can only be realised if we value wisdom over everything else in life. Unfortunately, the popular adage of “wisdom comes with age” does not really apply anymore because one thing is clear, wisdom comes to those who earnestly seeks it. It is only when we are able to recognise the temporary nature of created things that we can truly live in freedom of heart and spirit. No accumulated knowledge can achieve this because our weak and corrupt nature will always gravitate to what is pleasing to the senses. Only when we realise that wisdom is peerless when compared to other things that we can truly escape the shackles that binds us from living freely.

Finally, Jesus never said that a rich person cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. All He said was, it is harder for them to enter and that with the power of God, everything is possible. When we entrust ourselves to God and seek His wisdom in guiding our daily life, the likelihood of going astray is reduced dramatically. The wisdom that comes from God will always guide us along the path that leads to Him but the love of things of this world will always lure us away from that path. The choice is ours to make.