Material, intellectual, spiritual and other riches are  gifts  of God to us.  God granted them to us through inheritance or through our acquisition; we acquired them through His gifts and abilities to us.  Naked we were born in this world and we’ll leave this world without any of our possessions.

Riches are given to us to use them wisely for good and not misuse them for evil.  The ancient Greeks called money  chrimata,  items to be used.  In a light spirit, someone said that “the gold coins were made round in order to roll and not to stay in one place.”  Money is not a value of itself; rather it has value when it is used and shared with others.  The riches are given to us for our needs  but also to help those in need of assistance.

The young man in the Gospel lesson asked Jesus what to do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus pointed out to him the 10 Commandments.  When he said that he had kept them  from his youth,  Jesus told him to use his riches  to inherit eternal life, and come to join him.  But he walked away from His advice. Can you imagine where he would have  been today, if the young man had followed Jesus’ advice!

Many times we don’t take the advice of our parents or of other wise people when we are young.  When we grow older, we realize what great mistake we made.  God has given us a spiritual way to reverse the damage.  He called it repentance and confession.  The Prodigal Son used it and he returned to his father. 

Let us also return to our Heavenly Father, if we have gone astray.  Let us also use wisely His gifts to us, as He has told us.  For our true destination is life with God forever.  Our Christian Faith and Godly deeds are our ticket to it.

With love, Fr. John P. Angelis