The rich man's Gospel reading seen in a new light

At the prayer meeting I went to last week ( oct. 15th) - we were contemplating the Gospel reading of the day, the one where the rich man came to Jesus and said he followed all the commandments but still wanted to know what else he should do - and Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and follow him. We got some revelations at that prayer meeting that what Jesus was really asking the man was to empty himself of all his cares and struggles and "idols" (since the man went away sad because of his many possessions, we can say that he was caught up in materialism and was filled with the need to have stuff and use stuff), it wasn't really riches that were the problem, it was the fact that his riches were crowding out God. So Jesus asked him to remove the riches that were crowding out God and follow Jesus, who would fill his heart with love of God, not love of riches. We all need to examine ourselves and see what crowds Jesus out of our lives, is it materialism, is it lust, fame, power, hatred, anger, jealousy or bitterness?? We need to ask Jesus to forgive us for crowding him out and ask him back into our hearts, to live for Jesus not for other reasons. We can live out the commandments but if our minds and hearts are on other things other than Jesus, we are not living a Christian life and we are not receiving the gifts that Jesus can give us.

Went to a great Catholic play last night, Viva Cristo Rey

I went to see a Catholic play last night, Viva Cristo Rey, the Story of Fr. Miguel Pro. It was very good - it shows the bravery of not only Blessed Miguel Pro during the Mexican period of Anti-Catholic persecution of the early 20th Century but also the bravery of his relatives and all the Catholic lay people that helped hid the priests and keep the Catholic faith alive in Mexico during this terrible time. The group putting this play on is called Quo Vadis and they have done numerous plays on not so famous saints and Catholic heroes such as Pearl of York, St. Margaret of Castello and others.
Here is a link to the play's web page - Viva Cristo Rey
I saw the last performance of the play ( it was only shown 11 times over 3 weekends). The play focused on Fr. Miguel's time in Mexico right before he was killed by the firing squad for being a Catholic priest in a country where religious worship was illegal. Blessed Miguel Pro is a favorite of Northern California also because he lived in Los Gatos, California (near San Jose ) for a short time because of the Mexican persecution.
Blessed Miguel Pro needs only one more miracle to help him be canonized a Catholic Saint. We can all pray for that.

Here is another great web site that has numerous references to Blessed Miguel Pro:
Blessed Miguel Pro's home page