Jgs 6:11-24a / Mt 19:23-30
Very few of us have to worry about the "problems" of being rich. But, in any case, being rich isn’t what today’s gospel is about. The real issue is that very human inclination to cling to whatever we’ve got, whether we’re the toddler who clings to his teddy bear or the adult who clings to his dead ideas.
We are natural-born clingers and it doesn’t take much to make us hold on tight. That clinging, whether with our hands, our minds or our hearts, can prevent our receiving the really valuable things that life can give, and that God wants us to have.
We have a much better alternative, and the prayer stance that the Church prescribes for its priests for praying the Our Father shows it quite graphically: Hands wide open, palms turned upward, clinging to nothing, confident and ready to receive what God wants us to have.
That’s the life stance of a person who knows what God Our Father is really about: Heart wide open, clinging to nothing, confident, and ready to receive what God wants us to have.