Feast of St Stephen of Hungary.

WHAT ARE THE GENUINE RICHES? THEY ARE THE AWESOME HOLY SPIRIT, HIS GIFTS AND FRUITS AND THE PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD. GOD NEVER FAILS!

"Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”

"Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

"Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

"And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Matthew 19: 23 -  30).

Tuesday 16th August 2022 of the  20th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St Stephen of Hungary. Born in 969 and died on August 15th 1038). Monarch.
St Stephen was crowned king of Hungary on Christmas day 1001 by Emperor Otto III by the permission of Pope Sylvester II.  Stephen earned his greatness in Christian history by founding monasteries and organizing dioceses thereby transforming Hungary into a Christian nation. St Stephen and his wife Blessed Gisela were the parents of St. Emeric.

St Stephen is the patron saint of: Hungary, kings, bricklayers and masons..

The rich young man who wanted eternal life and at the same time clung to all his material possessions was told to get rid of them and come and follow Jesus. That was too much for him. He walked away from the Pearl of great Price very sad.

In our Scripture for today, Jesus warns about the dangers of unbridled desire to be rich. To put it starkly, just as power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so does wealth corrupts and extreme riches corrupt extremely. For proof of this, let us head to the first Reading today from Ezekiel 28: 1 - 10. The prince of Tyre became haughty of heart because of the vast wealth he amassed by trading. He came to see himself as: “A god am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!” And his attitude about his wealth and kingdom is:
“Our own hand won the victory;
the Lord had nothing to do with it."

St Paul warns: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6: 9).
Do not despise the wisdom of the Scriptures on the lure of money. Some play lottery to get rich quick.  "Why do you play the lottery, my friend?" You may be surprised to receive an answer like this: "When I win millions of dollars, I will distribute half to the poor and use the balance to build homeless shelters." An ex taxi driver told me about some of his cabby friends who actually won millions from lottery. They all became homeless in a few years.

God knows what we need and when we need it. This is why Jesus gave us the shortcut to the good life in this great promise: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the rest will be given to you."

God who is so faithful and true has never failed in his promises.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com