When someone comes to Jesus asking for His arbitration in a dispute, Jesus indicates that a life focused on possessions lacks substance. The parable He tells shows how fleeting life can be, because possessions aren't as lasting as we think they are.
Yet in Christ, we see that life has great meaning when we focus on Heavenly things, which can transform earthly things into means that lead us to what is worthwhile and everlasting, even Heaven. As we turn our focus back to the relaity of the Resurrection on Sunday today, a Little Easter, we get to revisit a passage from Easter/Resurrection Sunday Mass in Colossians. Christ has been raised, and has gone to Heaven. As people transformed by faith in Him, we can focus our gaze upward, too.
By faith, we can see glimpses of Heaven. I think about how 9 years ago, my brother and sister-in-law married, a joyful occasion of celebrating their union. And 9 years ago on this 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, I heard these readings proclaimed at a church in Cripple Creek, CO, at nearly 10000 feet above sea level, as I spend a weekend joyfully sharing the company of family while celebrating my Great Aunt Carmen's birthday. Joyful occasions like these point us to the ultimate joy of Heaven.
Pope Leo XIV said it so well in his homily today at the conclusion of the Jubilee of Youth. The fullness of our existence isn't about what we possess, but rather "what we joyfully welcome and share". We can part from attachment to worldly matters, especially sin, and receive the abundance of new Life in Christ. On our way to Heaven, we experience Heaven now as we find the ultimate of purpose in life realized now, because that purpose points us to what is lasting and most worthwhile.
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