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From: Sirach 35:1-12

Worship Pleasing to God

[1] He who keeps ihe law makes many offerings; he who heeds the commandments
sacrifices a peace offering. [2] He who returns a kindness offers fine
flour, and he who gives alms sacrifices a thank offering. [3] To keep from
wickedness is pleasing to the Lord, and to forsake unrighteousness is
atonement. [4] Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed; [5] for all these
things are to be done because of the commandment. [6] The offering of a
righteous man anoints the altar, and its pleasing odor rises before the Most
High. [7] The sacrifice of a righteous man is acceptable, and the memory of
it will not be forgotten. [8] Glorify the Lord generously, and do not stint
the first fruits of your hands. [9] With every gift show a cheerful face,
and dedicate your tithe with gladness. [10] Give to the Most High as he has
given, and as generously as your hand has found. [11] For the Lord is the
one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. [12] Do not offer him a
bribe, for he will not accept it; and do not trust to an unrighteous
sacrifice; for the Lord is the judge, and with him is no partiality.

Commentary:

34:18-35:20. These verses contain Ben Sirach's teaching about the worship of
God. The predominant idea is that the worship that is pleasing to God is not
mere liturgical ritual: true adoration must be backed up by righteous
living. The passage begins with maxims reminiscent of the prophets' teaching
on social justice and religious worship (34:18-22).

More than one of the counsels contained here was used by the Fathers of the
Church as a basis for instructing the faithful on worship pleasing to the
Lord. For example, St Gregory the Great takes to task those who use
ill-gotten gains to pay for Church services: "Many of them often offer to
God what they have stolen from the poor. But as a wise man once said: In his
anger God will reject them. What could be worse in the eyes of a father than
the death of his son? We can see in this question the anger with which God
would view any offering of that kind" ("Regula Pastoralis, 3,21). It can
never be said often enough that "to take away a neighbor's living is to
murder him"(34:22; cf. Jas 5:4). A worker indeed has a right to be properly
paid for his work. "Remuneration for work should guarantee man the
opportunity to provide a dignified livelihood for himself and his family on
the material, social, cultural and spiritual level to correspond to the role
and the productivity of each, the relevant economic factors in his
employment and the common good" ("Gaudium Et Spes", 67).

The passage goes on to stress that fasting and prayer is to be genuine
person must sincerely repent his sins (34:23-26), and then it goes back to
the subject of acts of religious worship (35:1-11). Ben Sirach has nothing
against religious ceremonies; on the contrary: the Law prescribes the
offerings that should be made to God, and it should be generously adhered to
(cf. 35:10). However, he has three very clear things to say that help to
personalize religious worship: almsgiving is an act of worship (35:2); an
upright life, that keeps to the Law, is an offering pleasing to God (35:3);
and offerings to the Lord should be generously and gladly made (35:4-10).

From 35:11 on, the Lord is the subject of the sentences. Ben Sirach tells us
God is: he pays well (35:11), he is a judge (35:11-15), who rewards a person
according to his works; and he identifies the person whom God listens
to--the generous giver (35:11), the one who is wronged (35 13), the orphan
and the widow (35:14), the one who serves Him (35:16), the humble person
(35:17). Most of these qualities (those of God as well as those of people
who have recourse to him) can be found, all together, in Jesus' attitude to
the sick, to sinners and to the poor.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Mark 10:28-31

Poverty and Renunciation (Continuation)

[28] Peter began to say to Him (Jesus), "Lo, we have left everything
and followed You." [29] Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no
one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, [30] who will not
receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to
come eternal life. [31] But many that are first will be last, and the
last first."

Commentary:

28-30. Jesus Christ requires every Christian to practise the virtue of
poverty: He also requires us to practise real and effective austerity
in the possession and use of material things. But of those who have
received a specific call to apostolate--as in the case, here, of the
Twelve--He requires absolute detachment from property, time, family,
etc. so that they can be fully available, imitating Jesus Himself who,
despite being Lord of the universe, became so poor that He had nowhere
to lay His head (cf. Matthew 8:20). Giving up all these things for the
sake of the Kingdom of Heaven also relieves us of the burden they
involve: like a soldier shedding some encumbrance before going into
action, to be able to move with more agility. This gives one a certain
lordship over all things: no longer the slave of things, one
experiences that feeling St. Paul referred to: "As having nothing, and
yet possessing everything" (2 Corinthians 6:10). A Christian who sheds
his selfishness in this way has acquired charity and, having charity,
he has everything: "All are yours; you are Christ's; and Christ is
God's" (1 Corinthians 3:22-23).

The reward for investing completely in Christ will be fully obtained in
eternal life: but we will also get it in this life. Jesus says that
anyone who generously leaves behind his possessions will be rewarded a
hundred times over in this life.

He adds "with persecutions" (v. 30) because opposition is part of the
reward for giving things up out of love for Jesus Christ: a Christian's
glory lies in becoming like the Son of God, sharing in His cross so as
later to share in His glory: "provided we suffer with Him in order that
we may also be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17); "all who desire to
live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted' (2 Timothy
3:12).

29. These words of our Lord particularly apply to those who by divine
vocation embrace celibacy, giving up their right to form a family on
earth. By saying "for My sake and for the Gospel" Jesus indicates that
His example and the demands of His teaching give full meaning to this
way of life: "This, then, is the mystery of the newness of Christ, of
all that He is and stands for; it is the sum of the highest ideals of
the Gospel and of the Kingdom; it is a particular manifestation of
grace, which springs from the paschal mystery of the Savior and renders
the choice of celibacy desirable and worthwhile on the part of those
called by our Lord Jesus. Thus, they intend not only to participate in
Christ's priestly office, but also to share with Him His very condition
of living" (Paul VI, "Sacerdotalis Coelibatus", 23).