Why not be homeless?

[jacob1011]

I have recently come back to my Catholic faith. Unfortunately I have a fairly immature understanding of things.

Mathew 19:21 says:

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Why aren’t all Christians doing this? More importantly for myself, why shouldn’t I do this? The verse seems as if it’s intended to be taken literally. I’m unfit to become a priest, so if I took it literally, I’d just be a homeless guy who abandoned his loved ones. Why should I burden society?

Surely I am not the first person to ask this silly question. Is there a clear and reasonable modern answer? Is the answer simply that I am sinfully dependent on creature comforts? I guess I’d be like the rich person Jesus was addressing.

I mean this literally and somewhat stupidly because I have some eternal self-interest in the matter.

Thank-you.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Its important to remember that Jesus asks different things of different people. Some people are indeed asked to give up everything, they take a vow of poverty. However not everyone is called to material poverty.

Jesus called that particular individual in the Gospel of Matthew to sell everything, but he did not demand/ask it of everyone in the Gospel.