Righteousness and Riches

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to consider the themes in society that lead us away from using our time, treasure, and talent for the benefit of others in need.

Riches and Righteousness 

The reading from the Book of Judges presents the cyclical pattern that characterized the relationship of the Israelites with God.

* [2:10–19] This long thematic passage establishes the cyclical pattern for the stories found in the rest of the book. When the Israelites are secure, they forsake the Lord and worship other gods. In punishment the Lord places them in the power of a foreign oppressor. But when they cry out in distress, the Lord takes pity on them and raises up a judge, who delivers them from the oppressor. The Israelites remain faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of the judge, but when the judge dies they again abandon the Lord, and the cycle begins anew.

* [2:11] The Baals: the title “Baal,” meaning “lord” or “master,” belonged to a large number of Canaanite, Phoenician, and Syrian deities, including especially the great storm god Hadad Baal, widely revered as lord of the earth. The plural form, which occurs here, was used by the biblical writers to refer to foreign gods in general.

* [2:13] The Astartes: Ashtoreth, or Astarte, was an important Canaanite and Phoenician goddess. The plural form used here probably refers to foreign goddesses in general. (Judges, CHAPTER 2|USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 106 invites Israel to praise God.

* [Psalm 106] Israel is invited to praise the God whose mercy has always tempered judgment of Israel (Ps 106:1–3). The speaker, on behalf of all, seeks solidarity with the people, who can always count on God’s fidelity despite their sin (Ps 106:4–5). Confident of God’s mercy, the speaker invites national repentance (Ps 106:6) by reciting from Israel’s history eight instances of sin, judgment, and forgiveness. (Psalms, PSALM 106 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus advises the Rich Young Man.

* [19:16–30] Cf. Mk 10:17–31. This story does not set up a “two-tier” morality, that of those who seek (only) eternal life (Mt 19:16) and that of those who wish to be perfect (Mt 19:21). It speaks rather of the obstacle that riches constitute for the following of Jesus and of the impossibility, humanly speaking, for one who has many possessions (Mt 19:22) to enter the kingdom (Mt 19:24). Actual renunciation of riches is not demanded of all; Matthew counts the rich Joseph of Arimathea as a disciple of Jesus (Mt 27:57). But only the poor in spirit (Mt 5:3) can enter the kingdom and, as here, such poverty may entail the sacrifice of one’s possessions. The Twelve, who have given up everything (Mt 19:27) to follow Jesus, will have as their reward a share in Jesus’ (the Son of Man’s) judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28), and all who have similarly sacrificed family or property for his sake will inherit eternal life (Mt 19:29).

* [19:16] Gain eternal life: this is equivalent to “entering into life” (Mt 19:17) and “being saved” (Mt 19:25); the life is that of the new age after the final judgment (see Mt 25:46). It probably is also equivalent here to “entering the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:23) or “the kingdom of God” (Mt 19:24), but see notes on Mt 3:2; 4:17; 18:1 for the wider reference of the kingdom in Matthew.

* [19:17] By Matthew’s reformulation of the Marcan question and reply (Mk 10:17–18) Jesus’ repudiation of the term “good” for himself has been softened. Yet the Marcan assertion that “no one is good but God alone” stands, with only unimportant verbal modification.

* [19:18–19] The first five commandments cited are from the Decalogue (see Ex 20:12–16; Dt 5:16–20). Matthew omits Mark’s “you shall not defraud” (Mk 10:19; see Dt 24:14) and adds Lv 19:18. This combination of commandments of the Decalogue with Lv 19:18 is partially the same as Paul’s enumeration of the demands of Christian morality in Rom 13:9.

* [19:20] Young man: in Matthew alone of the synoptics the questioner is said to be a young man; thus the Marcan “from my youth” (Mk 10:20) is omitted.

* [19:21] If you wish to be perfect: to be perfect is demanded of all Christians; see Mt 5:48. In the case of this man, it involves selling his possessions and giving to the poor; only so can he follow Jesus. (Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB, n.d.)

Larry Hopp comments that in today’s Gospel, Jesus provides us with further insight into the question of “how do we live our lives for our Lord”.

So - is it really possible to give our lives over completely to our Lord and Savior and to live for Him? I do not believe Jesus was baiting the young man – or us – with the impossible. The young man was likely a fairly “good” individual, at least in the eyes of the world. Yet Jesus saw past the young man’s outward image and gazed into his heart.

Thinking we are pretty “good” just will not cut it. It is only through surrendering our heart completely to Jesus that we can look forward to eternal life with Him. Jesus knew that even when we have given our heart to Him, we would still stumble – that is why He gave himself up for us on the cross. Such love is incomprehensible – the best reason of all for surrendering our heart completely to our gracious Lord and Savior.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to avoid the lies and temptations of this world and to keep my eyes and heart focused continually and completely upon my precious Lord and Savior. 

In the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen. (Hopp, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Seek the life that endures,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The Lord said to a certain young man, 'If you would enter life, keep the commandments.' He did not say 'If you would have life' but 'If you would enter life,' defining that life as eternal life. Let us first consider then the love of this life. For this life is loved, whatever its quality - and however troubled it is, however wretched, people are afraid to end it. Hence we should see, we should consider, how much eternal life is to be loved, when this miserable life that must at some time be ended is so loved. Consider, brothers, how much that life is to be loved when it is a life you never end. You love this life, where you work so much, run, are busy, pant. In this busy life the obligations can scarcely be counted: sowing, plowing, working new land, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving. And after all this hard work your life comes to an end. Look at what you suffer in this wretched life that you so love. And do you think that you will always live and never die? Temples, rocks, marbles, all reinforced by iron and lead, still fall. And a person thinks that he will never die? Learn therefore, brothers, to seek eternal life, when you will not endure these things but will reign with God forever." (excerpt from Sermon 84,1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Judges 2:11-19 comments that the stories in the Book of Judges show us what happens when we lose sight of the life God calls us to live.

None of us have to feel trapped in a downward spiral of sin—neither us nor any of our loved ones. Jesus’ hand is always outstretched, ready to lift us up. His Spirit is always ready to pour God’s love into us. Every sin can be forgiven. Every broken heart can be mended. Jesus, our Lord, has saved us!

“Jesus, Lord of the covenant, thank you for rescuing me!” (Meditation on Judges 2:11-19, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts of today. Judges one of two books speaking of the conquest. In Joshua, triumphant Israel is portrayed and here the people turn to Baal, god of fertility and rain and abandon worship of Yahweh. The people called upon God to return to them and “judges” assisted the people to be faithful. Judges were called charismatically and would rescue the people temporarily. A Young Man seeks to inherit eternal life. Jesus calls him to perfection in the context of the “Shema Israel” where possessions are linked to our strength. Friar Jude reminds us that we need perspective on the role of wealth and be as generous as possible.

Fr Richard Rohr, OFM, suggests how we might honor our emotions without overly attaching to them. Emotions are, first of all, a gift from God so that we can touch reality by a way other than our brain.   

Pastor Peter Scazzero affirms that our emotions are central to our humanity and to our relationships with God and people.

To feel is to be human. To minimize or deny what we feel is a distortion of what it means to be image bearers of God. To the degree that we are unable to express our emotions, we remain impaired in our ability to love God, others, and ourselves well. Why? Because our feelings are a component of what it means to be made in the image of God. To cut them out of our spirituality is to slice off an essential part of our humanity. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)

Father Richard considers the risk of overemphasizing the importance of our feelings:  

Because emotions were so repressed and denied and thought to be always faulty, it’s probably one of the major reasons we moved into overly heady Christianity. We’re rediscovering the value of emotions now, but this has the danger of swinging the pendulum to the other side—assuming that emotions are always right, always good. But when taken at face value, emotions don’t have any cognitive balancing. We aren’t asking “Is that a sensible response? Is that a reasonable response?” So, we have a lot of sentimentality and drama, the pumping up of emotions about nothing. We spend hours creating outer dramas, particularly when there’s no inner drama, no inner aliveness or contentment. Inside the frame of the smaller self, we tend to make everything a big deal. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the distractions and attractions in our environment today that propose life styles that put our success and aggrandizement as a priority over the care, compassion, and mercy modelled by Jesus for fullness of life.

References

Hopp, L. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-19-2019 

Judges, CHAPTER 2|USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/judges/2?11 

Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19?16 

Meditation on Judges 2:11-19. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/?utm_content=buffer5c902&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer 

Psalms, PSALM 106 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/106?34 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-gift-for-experiencing-reality/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Give - and You Will Have Treasure in Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 18, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug18 

Bereavement and Riches

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to invoke the guidance of the Spirit to transform the events of our journey into action plans to assist the people we encounter who are seeking fullness of life.

Bereavement and Life

The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel presents the sign of Ezekiel’s Bereavement.

* [24:17] The bread of mourners: a post-burial meal that mourners shared to comfort one another; cf. 2 Sm 3:35; Jer 16:7. The other gestures mentioned here were also popular mourning customs. Because Ezekiel does not observe any of the mourning customs mentioned, the people are puzzled and ask him to explain.

* [24:22–24] The fall of the city will be so sudden and final that the exiles will have no time to go into mourning. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB, n.d.)

The response from the Book of Deuteronomy laments that “You have forgotten God.”

* [32:21] “No-god”…“no-people”: worship of the gods of the nations brings destruction at the hands of a foreign invader. A false god cannot sustain or protect (cf. Jer 14:22); and though the nations seem “foolish” (see their characterization in such passages as Ps 114:1; Is 28:11; 33:19), they will prove to be anything but nonentities when the Lord stirs them up against Israel (Is 9:10–12). For the “no-” or “not-” construction, see Hos 1:6, 9; 2:1, 25. (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus encounters the Rich Young Man.

* [19:16] Gain eternal life: this is equivalent to “entering into life” (Mt 19:17) and “being saved” (Mt 19:25); the life is that of the new age after the final judgment (see Mt 25:46). It probably is also equivalent here to “entering the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:23) or “the kingdom of God” (Mt 19:24), but see notes on Mt 3:2; 4:17; 18:1 for the wider reference of the kingdom in Matthew.

* [19:17] By Matthew’s reformulation of the Marcan question and reply (Mk 10:17–18) Jesus’ repudiation of the term “good” for himself has been softened. Yet the Marcan assertion that “no one is good but God alone” stands, with only unimportant verbal modification.

* [19:18–19] The first five commandments cited are from the Decalogue (see Ex 20:12–16; Dt 5:16–20). Matthew omits Mark’s “you shall not defraud” (Mk 10:19; see Dt 24:14) and adds Lv 19:18. This combination of commandments of the Decalogue with Lv 19:18 is partially the same as Paul’s enumeration of the demands of Christian morality in Rom 13:9.

* [19:20] Young man: in Matthew alone of the synoptics the questioner is said to be a young man; thus the Marcan “from my youth” (Mk 10:20) is omitted.

* [19:21] If you wish to be perfect: to be perfect is demanded of all Christians; see Mt 5:48. In the case of this man, it involves selling his possessions and giving to the poor; only so can he follow Jesus. (Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB, n.d.)

Carol Zuegner has been without electricity because of storms that raged through town where winds tore down trees and power lines.

Like the young man in the gospel, I try to follow the commandments and to love my neighbor as myself. This last directive to reach perfection calls for selling what I have and giving the proceeds to the poor and that is hard for me as well. I can say with certainty I will never be perfect. But what can I do?

I can be generous with time, talent and treasure. In this time of disaster for many in my town, stories of care and kindness abound. In my own corner of the world, neighbors pitched in to help me clean branches and storm debris from my yard. My family and so many others have been generous in offering places to stay to get out of the heat, meals or a cool drink. Let that kind of generosity fill my life instead of more things. My prayer today:

God, help me find ways to simplify my life and offer my time, talent and treasure to others. (Zuegner, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Seek the life that endures,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The Lord said to a certain young man, 'If you would enter life, keep the commandments.' He did not say 'If you would have life' but 'If you would enter life,' defining that life as eternal life. Let us first consider then the love of this life. For this life is loved, whatever its quality - and however troubled it is, however wretched, people are afraid to end it. Hence we should see, we should consider, how much eternal life is to be loved, when this miserable life that must at some time be ended is so loved. Consider, brothers, how much that life is to be loved when it is a life you never end. You love this life, where you work so much, run, are busy, pant. In this busy life the obligations can scarcely be counted: sowing, plowing, working new land, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving. And after all this hard work your life comes to an end. Look at what you suffer in this wretched life that you so love. And do you think that you will always live and never die? Temples, rocks, marbles, all reinforced by iron and lead, still fall. And a person thinks that he will never die? Learn therefore, brothers, to seek eternal life, when you will not endure these things but will reign with God forever." (excerpt from Sermon 84,1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22 comments that God made us for a relationship with him. He knows that we are most fully ourselves, most fully human, most fully satisfied when we are close to him. This is what the man in today’s Gospel was searching for, even if he couldn’t make the leap of faith that Jesus was asking of him.

Don’t let that happen to you! Jesus is just as present to you as he was to that young man on the road. He is inviting you—each and every day—to come to a deeper relationship with him. So if something is holding you back, be willing to let it go. Then take Jesus up on his invitation. Go and encounter him—in the Scriptures, in the sacraments, and in the silence of prayer. He is waiting for you!

“Lord Jesus, I want to follow you—today and always!” (Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the action of Ezekiel to not mourn the death of his wife as a sign to the exiles on how to respond to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The will of God is to be accepted even in exile and destruction. Friar Jude reminds us that our concern for family needs to include not letting possessions possess us.

 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, describes what he considers to be essential qualities of a true mentor.

Mentors have a generous acceptance of variety, difference, and the secret, unique character of each person and where they are on their journey… Secondly, to be a mentor we have to have a capacity for simple friendship. We have to know how to accompany someone, befriend and walk with them simply for the sake of a relationship… Thirdly, if a mentor is not free to talk about going down just as much as going up, they aren’t a mentor. C. S. Lewis once said that for him, “Nothing was any good until it had been down in the cellar for a while.” [1] A true mentor has the patience, the authority, and the courage to share when and how they’ve been “down in the cellar for a while.” It’s not all about climbing and achievement.

Even if we aren’t in a formal mentoring relationship with others, if we keep maturing, if we use all we have experienced for our own soul work, then I think we’re already giving something to the next generation. We become a generative human being, and life will flow out from us, just by being who we are. That’s precisely what they said of Jesus: “power came out from him” (Luke 6:19). He had inner authority, and when we have inner authority, we also, by our being and our bearing, offer self-confidence, grounding, and validation to those around us. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate the image that our actions and attitude communicate to those on our journey who may be facing difficult times and the ways in which we can actualize love, compassion, and care for them.

References

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 32 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/32?18 

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 24 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/24?15 

Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19?16 

Meditation on Matthew 19:16-22. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/08/19/1054629/ 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/what-makes-a-mentor/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Give - and You Will Have Treasure in Heaven. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/

Zuegner, C. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved August 19, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/