Prosperity or...

In today’s first reading (Deuteronomy 30:15-20), God presents us with a clear choice:

Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.

If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God, will bless you
in the land you are entering to occupy.

If, however, you turn away your hearts
and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life on the land
that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.

I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.

Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live,
by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you...

For us, the prosperity to which God refers extends beyond the reaches of this world. This is a critical point, for a focus on earthly prosperity alone can have devastating consequences.

Moreover, in today’s Gospel (Luke 9:22-25), our Lord sets before us a choice even more powerful, leading to an ultimate happiness even more wonderful, albeit on a path more challenging:

Then he said to all,
"If anyone wishes to come after me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me.

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

“What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?"