God's Grace Is Sufficient

Homily for Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

In today's first reading, Paul thanks the Philippians for their generosity, but then he quickly shifts the focus. His joy is not simply that they helped him. Rather, he has learned the secret of contentment: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Whether he has much or little, Christ is enough.

Paul’s declaration “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” is one of the most beloved verses in all of Scripture. Sometimes people hear those words as a promise of success. Paul means something deeper. He is writing from a position of weakness, not strength. He has known hunger, imprisonment, disappointment, and uncertainty. Yet he has discovered that Christ's grace is sufficient in every circumstance. Years ago, as the administrator of CUSA, I heard these words quoted often by people with disabilities. (Please note that I said “people with disabilities, not disabled people.) They are people first, and they understood Paul's meaning. They were not claiming that faith would make every limitation disappear. Rather, they knew that Christ gave them the strength to live faithfully, joyfully, and courageously with those limitations. Paul is not speaking about the power to do anything. He is speaking about the grace to face everything.

That helps us understand today's Gospel. Jesus speaks about wealth, not because money is evil, but because it can easily become a rival master. The real question is not how much we possess, but what possesses us. If our security rests in God, then our resources become instruments of love, generosity, and friendship. If our security rests in wealth alone, we become servants of something that can never truly satisfy.

St. Diego de Alcalá was not a famous preacher, theologian, or church leader. He was a simple Franciscan brother who lived an ordinary life with extraordinary trust. His greatness lay not in remarkable achievements but in allowing Christ's strength to shine through his simplicity and humility. He owned very little, yet he enriched countless lives through humility, prayer, and care for the poor. His heart was free because it belonged entirely to God.

As we celebrate this Eucharist, let us ask for the grace to hold the things of this world lightly, to use them generously, and to discover with St. Paul that Christ alone is the treasure that never fails. Amen.