"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)

Col 3:1-11

Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory. Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way. But now you must put them all away: anger, fury, malice, slander, and obscene language out of your mouths. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.

Lk 6:20-26

Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:
"Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.  For their ancestors treated the prophets  in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."

It is interesting in this Gospel that Jesus refers to two types of people as his words, directing his full attention to the poor and the rich. Perhaps it would be better to distinguish between saints and sinners, or between wise and foolish. Does Jesus hate riches? No. Jesus has nothing to do with riches, he does not prevent a person from getting rich. Jesus does not like what wealth can make of a person, whom to turn him into. Jesus does not favor poverty, but for Him poverty has a better spiritual meaning, because it does not bind the heart of man as much as having riches in which there is great danger and the risk of losing salvation. This is confirmed by the words of St. Paul from the letter to the Colossians, which we just heard in the first reading: I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away. This world is passing away, there is nothing permanent in this world, nothing that deserves our attention and can be compared with the beauty of God's life. Even such a beautiful relationship as union between wife and husband, even such a sacrifice as a life of chastity is only a fragment of what God has prepared for us in the next life. In today's Gospel, Jesus emphasizes the importance of renouncing this world and this earthly life in order to be able to achieve a beautiful life in eternity. Renunciation is not only about burning money or throwing credit cards in the trash (if you intend to throw them out, give me a pin code first), renunciation in the spiritual sense is not binding the heart to the material things, cutting off from the sensual desires. If we do not distance ourselves from this world, it will consume our hearts and souls so much that we will lose God's grace and presence in us and we will lose our eternal life. That is why Jesus warns and always warned about riches. If you are rich in your possessions in this life, and you do not have a rich heart before God, your riches are not enough to open heaven to you. If you have material goods, but you do not attach your heart to them, but give your whole heart to God, you can be sure that God will not abandon you.

Father Marcin Cwierz, OSPPE

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"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)