| Letters of Aquila and Priscilla |
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For where your treasure is, (Mt 6:21) |
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For the past few months, there has been a second collection at every Sunday Mass. As Fr. Van has announced, this is the expatriate parish’s contribution to the Archdiocese’s work for the poor. This work has become even more urgent now in view of the economic crisis plaguing the country. As we have all noticed, there has been a marked increase in the number of people begging at the street corners of Jakarta, as well as, in the number of “singing groups” approaching cars at the stoplights. These are indeed hard times for many people in Indonesia. My brothers and sisters, it is for this reason that Jean and I requested you to omit gifts but instead to give to the poor through Fr. Van when we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary last 8 September. During this difficult period, we would like to ask you to give even more generously. The Lord has given us much. Let us also give much. Our ideal for sharing with the poor should be St. John, the Patriarch of Alexandria. Born in Cyprus of a wealthy and noble family, St. John was married but soon thereafter his wife, and later all his children, died. Left alone he decided to use all his resources to help the poor while devoting himself to prayer and spiritual pursuits. His reputation for personal holiness and generosity became widely known. As a result, in 608 he was appointed to the patriarchal chair of Alexandria. He was then just over fifty years of age. Among the first acts of St. John as Patriarch of Alexandria was to order the preparation of a list of his “masters.” When asked what he meant by his “masters,” he explained that he meant the poor because they had great power in the court of heaven to intercede for those who had helped them on earth. Every Wednesday and Friday he sat the whole day on a bench near the church listening to the problems of the poor and helping them in their necessities. When he found that the church’s treasury had eighty thousand pieces of gold, he ordered that these be distributed for the use of the hospitals and monasteries. He thus consecrated to the service of the poor and of the hospitals and monasteries the revenues of the See of Alexandria. And the more he gives out, the more contributions he received from benefactors who were inspired by his personal example. When the Persians plundered Syria, his home country, and ransacked Jerusalem, he cared for the refugees who fled to Egypt and he sent money, food and provisions to the suffering people of Jerusalem. St. John himself lived in the greatest austerity and poverty. When a wealthy member of the community learned that St. John had only one blanket, and an old and faded one, he sent him a beautiful and expensive blanket with a note requesting St. John to kindly use the blanket for the sake of the donor. St. John accepted the blanket with thanks but used it only for one night. He then sold the blanket and distributed the money to the poor. When the donor learned about it, he bought the blanket back and gave it back to St. John. But St. John sold it again and gave the money to the poor. This happened three times and every time St. John would say with a smile, “We will see who will get tired first.” When Nicetas, the governor, imposed new taxes, which affected the poor harshly, St. John spoke gently against it. The governor reacted angrily, spoke harsh words against St. John and left him abruptly. Towards evening, St. John sent the governor a note saying, “The sun is going to set,” indirectly reminding the governor of the advice of the apostles to “never let the sun go down upon your anger.” The admonition had its intended effect and immediately the governor came to the patriarch and apologized. In 619, the governor invited St. John to join him to visit Emperor Heraclius in Constantinople. While they were on the way, St. John felt that his death was at hand and said to Nicetas, “You invite me to the emperor of the earth; but the King of Heaven calls me to himself.” St. John therefore sailed back to his native Cyprus and shortly thereafter died happily in his hometown of Amathus. He was canonized a saint of the Church and became known as St. John the Almsgiver. My brothers and sisters, as expatriates in Jakarta we all live comfortable lives. Although the sharp depreciation in the value of the rupiah has reduced the level of income of many of us, still our children go to the best schools, drive their own cars and own cellular phones. They wear designer clothes. So do we. We wear Bally shoes, Arrow shirts, Gucci belts, and Lanvin ties. For many of us, vacations in Bali, trips to Europe or the United States are not uncommon. In short, we live good, comfortable lives, and money, or the lack of it, is not a problem. Occasionally, we may have a cash flow problem but no one can claim to be poor. The Gospels of Mark 10:17-22 and Matthew 19:16-22 tell the story of a young man who kneels before Jesus asking him what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus tells him to obey all the commandments. When the young man replies that he has obeyed them since childhood, Jesus says, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Mt 19:21). In this gospel story Jesus tells us that the call to perfection requires that we abandon all material possessions and follow Him. Many saints responded positively to this call – St. Anthony the Abbot, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. John the Almsgiver, just to name a few. The Gospel of Luke 19:1-10 tells the story of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a wealthy man. Jesus asks him to come down from the sycamore tree so that He can stay in his house. Zacchaeus then tells Jesus, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” To this Jesus replies, “Today salvation has come to this house.” In this gospel story Jesus tells us that it is not necessary to give up all earthly possessions to attain salvation. Not everyone is called to perfection. The call to perfection is a very special grace from God, and God knows only too well that only a few can respond to this call. Thus while Jesus does not call Zacchaeus to perfection, yet he assures him, “Today salvation has come to this house.” My brothers and sisters, in our covenant we do not explicitly promise to give to the poor. But we promise to make Jesus the Lord of our life. For Jesus to be truly the Lord of our life, we must acknowledge that he owns everything, that he is the one who enables us to acquire wealth, and that we should use our wealth to honor him. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we place our treasure with the Lord, then our heart is with the Lord. But if we keep our treasure to ourselves, then our heart is not with the Lord but with ourselves. And therefore we are not faithful to our covenant.
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