Gospel & Reflection for 28th Sunday.
Mark 10:17-30
Jesus was setting out on a journey when a man ran up, knelt before him and put this question to him, ‘Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You must not kill; You must not commit adultery; You must not steal; You must not bring false witness; You must not defraud; Honour your father and mother.’ And he said to him, ‘Master, I have kept all these from my earliest days.’ Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him, and he said, ‘There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But his face fell at these words and he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were astounded by these words, but Jesus insisted, ‘My children,’ he said to them ‘how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were more astonished than ever. ‘In that case’ they said to one another ‘who can be saved?’ Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he said ‘it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.’
Peter took this up. ‘What about us?’ he asked him. ‘We have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land – not without persecutions – now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life.’
Reflection
Friends, there is a story told of a Blacksmith whose youngest Grandson came to visit him as he was working in his forge. The young boy asked if he could stay around and watch his grandfather at work. His grandfather told him that he could but on one condition – that he would touch nothing because everything was extremely hot, especially the newly forged horseshoes on which he was working. Well, no sooner was the grandfather’s back turned but the boy picked up a horseshoe. Finding it scalding hot, he dropped it immediately, giving a somewhat, concealed cry!
Hearing the horseshoe fall, the grandfather, knowing what had happened asked: “Did you hurt yourself?” Lying, the boy said “No.” “Are you sure?” “Yes.” “But if you are hurt, I can help you,” his grandfather reassured him. “No, I am fine,” the boy replied. “Well, if you did not burn yourself, why did you drop the horseshoe so quickly?” the grandfather asked. The boy responded “It just did not take me long to look at it!”
One of the great tasks of life for all of us, is getting our priorities right. As we go through life, we try to clarify for ourselves what really matters, compared to what doesn’t. We try to find out what is worth valuing, worth holding, worth searching and fighting for, compared to what is not. Over the course of a lifetime, we may discover that what we once valued greatly, was actually not that important after all. In the same way, we might also realise that that which we dropped so quickly had more value that we first knew.
I would think that the young man in our Gospel has the sympathy of us all. By all accounts, he was a sincere, honest person, striving to do his best, and to be the best version of himself. He is obviously doing so much right, and still, he wants to know what more he could be doing. The answer he gets though, takes him completely and sorrowfully by surprise. His desire for eternal life, his desire to follow the Lord, bolstered by so much good in his life, is ultimately impeded by just one thing. The one thing needed for him to give his all to God, was the only thing he was reluctant to surrender.
What Jesus asked of him, in response to his own question was just too hot for him to handle, and he dropped his wish for perfect discipleship. He walks away sad knowing the value of what he was leaving behind him, compared to that which he was reluctant to surrender because unknowingly, it controlled him more than he thought.
Friends, what is it that controls us? What is there in our lives that maybe unknowingly, influences us more than we think and stops us fully responding to Christ in a radical way? Is it our wanting, our having, our plans? It is recognition, pleasure, or power? Whatever it is, sooner or later, we will be asked in some way, to let go of it. St. Paul reminds us of this too in our second reading, telling of how God always slips into that space where soul is divided from spirit; into that space filled with something other than God and exposes it.
We are challenged today to live life with a light grip; not to cling too tightly to anything which we may have to let go of. We are asked to see everything in perspective, to give things their proper place, and to know the things that are truly important and life affirming, as opposed to that which are not. It is about surrendering to the values and vision of God’s Kingdom, even if those values and vison clash with something in our lives.
Friends, let us always look closely and courageously at our lives, and in them, may they be nothing that would allow us to walk away sad from the Lord, only help us to walk with Him in faith, hope, and love.
Fr. Richard