Homily

The young man comes to Jesus and asks Him what he must do to gain eternal life, and after Jesus mentions the basic commandments the young man says he has kept all of them. And why did he keep the commandments? Most likely it is because he wanted to achieve eternal life, he wanted to go to heaven. So I was thinking and wondering how many people today would ask the same question as the young man did, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” In a recent poll 72% of Americans believe in heaven, which is a number that has held fairly steady for the past 40 years or so. (Only 58% believe in hell. What a surprise, eh?) Well if there is a heaven it presumes, for the most part, that there is a God. Now in the 1980s, in the group of Americans aged 18-29, the same age brackets as the men in today’s Gospel, only 13% did not believe in God, or doubted the existence of God. Today that figure has more than doubled to 30% of young adults who deny or doubt the existence of God. So how does that happen?

Of all the age groups, it’s natural that the youngest one is the most likely to be a bit rebellious, and certainly the least conscious of death. Not only does death seem so far off for them that it is hardly on their radar screen, it also seems far off for their parents who have not yet reached retirement age, so even their parents’ mortality is not something they are dealing with. If I don’t think about death and my possible existence after death it is not surprising that I may not think about God, or even deny His existence.

When Jesus tells the man to give up his stuff and follow Him the man becomes very sad. He can’t do it. And Jesus tells “the camel and the eye of the needle” story. The rich have a terribly hard time getting into heaven. But what does that have to do with us? We’re not rich.

I guess it’s how you define “rich.” Christian faith, at least the practice of it, is in serious decline in Western Europe and a slower but still gradual decline in North America. Where is Christianity growing? Well, for one place, Africa. What makes the difference? I think it is wealth and what we do with it.

The Church is thriving in Africa where the annual income and the amount of stuff that people have is only a fraction of what the average American has. Most of Africa is poor, by our standards very poor. And yet the Faith continues to grow there, where in general people do not live as long as in the West, and medical care is nothing close to what we have available.

Now cynics and critics will say that poor Africans grasp for religion because they are poor, because they die at a younger age, because they live in danger of drought and starvation and civil unrest and lack of modern medical advantages. And because of that they have to cling to a notion of God for any sense of hope in their lives. Their lives are difficult and so they want to believe in a better life that awaits them in heaven. What a patronizing and superior attitude.

I was listening to a CD of Christmas songs by a Catholic school children’s choir in Uganda. On one track one young boy says, “If you could come to Uganda on Christmas morning you would see all the people wearing their best clothes and going to the churches. We do not give presents wrapped in colorful paper, but the people are happy because they celebrate Jesus is born and they keep Him in their hearts.” I thought of Christmas just past. Are the people happy?

I think way too many of us in this country have looked for our peace and our happiness in comfort and material goods. Not in Christ. We have turned to our wealth to save us. Look how difficult it is for us to be without power for even a few days. And it is difficult. We rely. Not to mention living without electricity at all in a village that has no running water and no McDonalds. And who has time to think about eternal life when you have to upgrade your Wi-Fi, seek out a new flat screen TV and buy more download data capacity for your phone?

My parents wanted a better life for my generation, and my generation wanted a better life for our children—but what is better? Is it a life centered on material goods and comfort, or a life centered on Jesus? Is a better life a life based on comfort and goods or a life where you can be happy on Christmas morning because Jesus is born? Is it a better life to focus on comfort and goods and ignore the reality of death as much as possible, or is it better to hope in the Savior Who wants to take us into eternal life, if we really desire that enough to live as His faithful servants? We have created a culture that is increasingly dependent upon material goods, in exchange for a culture that feeds and supports the soul; a culture that value physical life and has little interest in eternal life. We have continued to create a culture that looks to create happiness rather than a culture that looks for where true happiness can be found.

I think it is our duty to be missionaries. First of all, to see if we in fact believe that eternal life is found by faithfully following Christ. Then to live that as an example for everyone else, to encourage fellow Christians, and to witness to those whose faith may be weak or non-existent. To witness to others that while it is good to use the goods of this world in the right manner and to give thanks to God for them, we were not born to live a hundred years as comfortably as we can and then vanish into nothingness. We were born to live forever in the everlasting loving presence of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us preach with our words, but also with our lives that this is the glory of human life and let’s not get tired of inviting others to share in it. If we live in Faith, eternal life begins right now. Let us help one another to live, let us pray for those who do not see it, and let us thank God for His great gift of life everlasting.