TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME B

[cappie]

In our Gospel today, a man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That strikes as an interesting phrase. Is there anything that the man could do on his own to inherit eternal life?

Jesus answers this question by reminding him that only God is good and of the commandments that pertain to community relationships. The man replies that he had kept all those commandments since his youth. Jesus did not doubt his sincerity—he looked at him and loved him—and because he loved him, he tells him the truth: the one thing that he lacked was full reliance on God. He needed to sell everything, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus. 

Jesus did not condemn the man for being wealthy. Jesus knew that wealth in itself was not bad, but it made things more difficult for a person who was wealthy to realize their full dependence on God. When we have an ample amount of money and we feel things are going our way, we feel self-sufficient. But that attitude can block us from responding to the gifts that God alone can give us – a full, whole life now and eternal life in the future.

If you think back across Mark’s Gospel, any person who comes to Jesus kneeling, asking for a blessing, is either deathly ill or demon possessed. And every time Jesus orders someone to go away afterward, it is in relation to healing. We can see this man as Jesus saw him—heartsick.

This is the only story in the Gospels when a personal call of Jesus is rejected. The rich man walks away grieving because he was not able to give up the one thing that kept him from giving himself completely to God. But even though it is the only story in the Gospels when this happens, it has been repeated over and over again in the centuries to follow. Each of us has “one thing” (often more than one) that we refuse to let go of so that we can be more fully in relationship with God. It does not have to be money, although it can be. It can take the form of other things. Becoming aware of them and having the courage to address them does not have to be overwhelming. As Jesus says, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God, all things are possible.”  To give up what is blocking us from relying on God with our whole lives—the loving God in which we live and move and have our being.

As Catholics we especially emphasize the Incarnation—the fact that Jesus came with human hands and feet—living in daily human life. That is an example of God doing something new, Jesus telling the wealthy man to give up what interferes with his full reliance on God is a continuation of that new work, a continued call for us  to rely on God,  That love means that there is more to life than emptiness that there is richness in living in community with others where you can share and pray and serve with others. It is about living your best life—about becoming who your Creator created you to be. But we cannot do that if we allow things to hold us back from deeper relationship with God—we are called to total stewardship—body, mind, and soul.

  What is one small, concrete step we can do to address an idol in our life that keeps us from glimpsing God? We take the time to pray each day or join a ministry that addresses racism or poverty in our neighbourhood. We finally reach out to a neighbour who needs help. There are plenty of small steps we can take to draw closer to God and slowly chip away at what is blocking us.

By releasing ourselves from the bondage of our idols, we will be able to reach out like we did as children—to touch, taste, smell, hear, and see God around us—and find that God has been steadfast and waiting for us all along.