Suffer or Squander

Appreciating our inheritance by suffering for it

05/27/2024

Mk 10:17-27 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother." He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!"

Have you heard of the old saying that “the first generation earns it, the second generation maintains it, and the third generation squanders it”? In a sense this is the story, and the cycle, of the American Dream. The history of the United States, like the history of Immaculate Conception Church, could be told in terms of waves of immigrants. The first parishioners of I.C. were the Irish, the second the Italians, and the third the Indians, like me and Fr. Bala. Just kidding. Obviously, the most recent wave are the Hispanics.

In each immigrant wave the first generation arrives on these shores poor but hungry to work hard and achieve a legacy for their family. The second generation tries to maintain that wealth because they saw the sacrifices of their parents. But the third generation that grows up in comfort and luxury feels entitled to their wealth and makes no sacrifices and squanders it. In other words, when you face suffering, adversity, and need, you grow in character and maturity. But when everything is handed to you on a silver platter, you take things for granted and become lazy and selfish. The key to opening the door to the American Dream is suffering, without it, the door remains shut, or we soon find ourselves on the outside again.

In the gospel today we see a similar dynamic in the spiritual life. A wealthy young man asks Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers that he must keep the commandments, to which the young man replies that he has. But then Jesus challenges him to embrace some voluntary suffering by adding, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.”

But the young man “went away sad, for he had many possessions.” In other words, just like the second and third generations of American immigrants slowly – or speedily! – squander their family’s wealth because they know no sacrifice or suffering, so, too, as Christians we become luke-warm and lazy in faith, take it for granted until we squander our spiritual inheritance. Put simply: we either suffer or we squander.

A few weeks ago a faith-filled couples came to talk to me about wanting to get involved in our youth ministry program. We only have a hand-full of teens every week and they wanted to help and make the program better. I was impressed by their dedication, and we talked for about an hour about different methods and strategies. At the end of the hour, I said rather bluntly: “Do you know what will really bring our youth back to Mass and the sacraments? It’s suffering. It is because their lives are too comfortable, easy, and everything is handed to them on a silver platter that they have grown lazy and self-centered. They think they are self-sufficient, but that is an illusion. And suffering pricks and bursts that bubble of self-sufficiency.”

In other words, suffering makes them turn to God. Suffering makes everyone turn to God. Some of the most fruitful places of ministry is in hospitals and on death-row. Why? Because suffering has pricked the bubble of the illusion of self-sufficiency, and we realize we need God. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth – those who are comfortable, at ease, have no suffering – to enter the Kingdom of God.” Suffering is the key to open the door to the American Dream, and suffering is the key to open the door to Paradise.

Today is Memorial Day and we remember the courageous men and women who shed their blood and gave – as Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address – “the last full measure of devotion” for this country. In a sense, every generation of American soldiers that dies for this country becomes like that first wave of immigrants willing to sacrifice and suffer for the American Dream. Their suffering unlocks the doors for the rest of us to be able to enter. The question that remains, though, is what will we do with this wealth? And there are always only two choices: suffer or squander.

Praised be Jesus Christ!