“As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.’ He replied and said to him, ‘Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through [the] eye of needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.’” (Mk. 10:17-27 NABRE)
For the man in today’s passage, it was his love of wealth which kept him from uniting himself to the Lord. When Jesus told the man that he must give his possessions to the poor, and then to follow Him, the man became sad and essentially gave up and forfeited his devotion to God. The man failed to place God first in his life because he held onto what Jesus was calling him to let go.
We all struggle with different sins, anxieties, vices, situations, fears, and even excuses, which hinder our relationship with Jesus. Similar to the man in today’s Gospel, sometimes these fears or vices take hold of our hearts, which should belong first and foremost to God.
What is it in your life which holds you back from completely following Jesus?
We may indeed be following our Lord and doing our best to obey His teachings. However, there is always more we can do to further unite ourselves to God.
As we approach this beautiful season of Lent, may we evaluate ourselves and the areas of our lives which we have been holding back from handing over to Jesus. May we humbly kneel at the foot of the His Cross with our faults, anxieties, and sins, and with a willingness to completely give everything to Jesus, even those things which are extremely difficult for us to let go of.
Jesus suffered and gave up His life for us. And by seeking God’s loving grace and mercy, we will be able to hand our complete selves over to Him. May we not turn away from Jesus like the man in the Gospel passage. Rather may we run to Jesus and be ready and willing to sacrifice all for Him.
Let us enter this Lenten season with a determination to rely on God’s grace as we seek to grow into a closer union with Him.
This is the hardest teaching. What is rich? What is everything? Just enough to avoid getting in the way of our relationship with Jesus? I like more direct teachings but this is all Jesus wanted us to know. So be it.
This is the hardest teaching. What is rich? What is everything? Just enough to avoid getting in the way of our relationship with Jesus? I like more direct teachings but this is all Jesus wanted us to know. So be it.