ABANDONING EVERYTHING FOR CHRIST

MONDAY, TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Ezek. 24:15-24; Deut 32:18-21; Mt 19:16-22

Go Sell Everything come Follow Me

The covenant of God is something real, and no one walks with God without entering into a covenant with Him. For the word of God is a covenant and establishes a covenant with the recipient. It is within this background that the prophecy uttered by Ezekiel to Israel is understood. The prophecy was costly for him. He sacrificed his wife for that purpose. Yahweh took his beloved wife as a sign to the people of Israel who were to be laid desolate by calamities that God would permit due to their sins and disobedience to his word.  We may consider this too costly or demanding, but it gives us an idea of God’s relationship with us. We belong to God in every ramification, for the whole creation is his own. Everything he created serves his purpose. We must remember that God gave us life and everything we possess. Thus, the prophet and his wife are the Lord’s; they serve his will. The same applies to each of us and all that we possess. God has complete or total ownership of us and everything we possess. His use of Ezekiel’s wife to proclaim a message to his people belongs to his divinity.

Ezekiel has this knowledge and awe of God’s glory instilled into him at his inaugural vision of God. The sacrifice Ezekiel made with his wife, God called the people of Israel to make so that they may come to the knowledge of the greatness and holiness of God, whom they have disobeyed. Thus, while the sacrifice of Ezekiel is beneficial and salvific to him, that of Israel is a punishment for their disobedience and sins. “Say to the House of Israel: The Lord says this. I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the passion of your souls… Ezekiel is to be a sign for you. You are to do as he has done. And when this happens, you will learn that I am the Lord.”  As we have noted in earlier reflections, the word of God is addressed first to the prophet and then to the people through him. Hence, the death of Ezekiel’s wife was a purification for him as the destruction of things the people of Israel held dear, their sons and daughters, were for the people. So, God’s punishment is not for vengeance as men do, but to correct our error and call us back to the path of salvation.

The Gospel tells of the young man who had a vocation to be a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ but lost the opportunity because of his attachment to his possessions.  Jesus gave him a vocation when he said: “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.” God does not make demands on us unjustly because he gives us himself without reservation in the covenant relation we enter through our reception of his word. So, what he gives us, he also demands from us in the covenant. Jesus Christ allowed him to receive the gift of eternal life he requested by asking the man to sell everything and follow him. That is, the man received the Word of God, our life everlasting. To choose something else when God has given himself to us is to attract condemnation and damnation. We pray for grace to open our hearts to love God with all we have, for he loved us first.

Let us pray:  Grant us, Lord, the grace to give a deep thought to the gifts we have received from you, so that possessing a deep understanding of your love for us in Christ, we may be filled with your love and live entirely for your praise and glory.