28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 13, 2024

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Who or what keeps me from loving God completely?

Mark 10:17–30

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 [a] 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.”

Peter began to say to him, “We have given up everything and followed you.”

Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Jesus, you ask us to leave everything and to follow you. I think you mean all those things that insulate me from your love and from the love of others. Let me examine what is the one thing holding me back from freedom. I can walk away or I can ask you help me to deal with this stumbling block. Help me to see what is truly necessary and life-giving and to use whatever goods and talents I have for the purpose of loving. Help me to be free of those attachments, even to those I love, that hold me back, that weigh me down. Help me to set myself free to follow you.

Companions for the Journey

Adapted from “Living Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Today we have the story of a rich man, that is, a man who believed he was rich or who believed that in his material wealth was his happiness. He was a well-meaning man. “Good Teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?” “You know the commandments,” says Jesus and then proceeds to list only those commandments which involve our relations with others, omitting those relating directly to God: not killing; not committing adultery; not stealing; not bearing false witness; not defrauding; respecting parents.

“I have kept all these things since I was young,” says the man. He was indeed a good man insofar as he did respect his parents and he did not do any of the sinful things mentioned.

Jesus looked at the man with a real love. This is not a love of affection or attraction. It is the love of agape, a love which desires the best possible thing for the other. This man was good but Jesus wanted him to be even better. So he said to him: “But there is one more thing: go and sell all you have and give to the poor. After that come and follow me.”

On hearing this, the man’s face clouded over. He walked slowly away full of sadness because he was very rich. Jesus had asked him for the one thing he could not give up. Jesus had asked for the one thing which the man believed showed he was specially blessed by God. He had not expected this. After he had gone Jesus looked at his disciples and said: “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” Now it was his disciples’ turn to be alarmed and shocked.

Their whole tradition believed that wealth was a clear sign of God’s blessings; poverty was a curse from God.

Jesus removes any misunderstanding on their part: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.” In other words, quite impossible. This was really too much for them. “In that case,” they asked each other, “who can be saved?” If those who have done well in this life cannot be saved what hope can there be for the losers? It would take them time to learn the truth of Jesus’ words. And it is a lesson that many of us Christians still have to learn.

And we might ask, Why is it so difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God? Is there something wrong with being rich? The answer depends on what meaning we give to ‘rich’ and to ‘Kingdom of God’.

A person at a lower middle class level in Europe or the United States may be extremely wealthy with the same resources if living in some African or Asian countries. Similarly a ‘rich’ peasant in a remote village may live a life that is primitive compared to a family on welfare in Europe.

When Jesus uses the word ‘rich’ he means a person who has more, a lot more, than those around him and especially when many of those around him do not have enough for their basic needs. For a person to cling to their material goods in such a situation, to enjoy a relatively luxurious standard of living while those around are deficient in food and housing is in contradiction to everything that Jesus and the Kingdom stand for.

And we need to emphasize that the ‘Kingdom of God’ here is not referring to a future life in ‘heaven’. Jesus is not saying that a rich person cannot go to heaven. He is concerned with how the rich person is living now. The Kingdom is a situation, a set of relationships where truth and integrity, love and compassion and justice and the sharing of goods prevail, where people take care of each other.

The man in the story said that he kept the commandments. One should notice that, except for one, all are expressed negatively. The man could observe several of them by doing nothing! Jesus was asking him to do something very positive, namely, to share his prosperity with his brothers and sisters in need. That he was not prepared to do. As such, he was not ready for the kingdom. He could not be a follower of Jesus. Nor can anyone else who is in a similar situation.

We might also add that the teaching applies not only to individuals but to communities and even nations. There are countries in the world today enjoying very high levels of prosperity with all kinds of consumer luxuries available while a very large proportion of the rest of the world lives mired in poverty, hunger, disease. It is one of the major scandals of our day. This is not a Kingdom situation and much of it is caused not by an uncaring God, or natural causes but by human beings who just refuse to share their surplus wealth. As someone has said, the really rich are those whose needs are the least.

A final reflection. We may feel that, in our society, we personally could by no stretch of the imagination be called rich and so the story does not apply to us. But we can cling to other things besides money. I might profitably ask myself today if there is anything at all in my life which I would find it very difficult to give up if God asked it of me. It might be a relationship, it might be a job or position, it might be good health.

To be a disciple Jesus means that he is asking me to follow him unconditionally, without any strings, ready to let go of anything and everything (although he may not actually ask me to do so). It is the readiness that counts. The man in the story did not even seem to have that. And still Jesus looked at him with love…

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Who are some people you know who might fit this description of the rich young man?
  • Has there been a time in your life when you found “getting and spending” no longer enough and yearned for something else to focus on?
  • Why did Jesus tell him to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor before following Jesus?
    What are the implications for us?
  • Realistically speaking, do I think Jesus us asking everyone, including me, to give everything I have to the poor?
    How then, do I interpret this suggestion, for myself?
  • In my desire to enter the kingdom, is there some one thing that I lack?
  • What are some hindrances besides wealth that can keep us from following Jesus?
  • In your daily life do you think of wealth or talent as a blessing?
    How has your wealth or talent been a blessing in your life?
    How can it be a distraction from our relationship to God?
    Why do you think Jesus seems to find wealth a problem?
  • Are riches always condemned in the gospels?
    How can we reconcile our “riches” with God’s kingdom?
  • How does our consumer culture make it hard to say we have enough?
  • Do you know people who seem to want to be sure that they will receive eternal life, or say that they know that they are saved?
    Do you feel that these people have a sense that they are guaranteed eternal life?
    Why is that so important to them?
    What, besides “keeping the rules” must we do to obtain eternal life?
    Were you surprised at Jesus reaction to the rich young man’s refusal to do what He suggested?
    Have you even been involved with someone who asked for advice, then refused to take it?
    How do we feel/react when people refuse to accept advice we give them “for their own good”?
  • How does my family/society treat those who choose to turn their backs on wealth and success in order to, say, work with the poor or disenfranchised?
    Would your loved ones be happy or dismayed if you made such a choice?
    Or:
    Would I be happy if my child made such a choice?
  • All normally feel bad if they do something bad.
    Have I ever felt bad about something good I DID NOT do?
  • If we focus on the eye of the needle, trying to drag our particular camel through it, do we see it as a pretty discouraging responsibility? So how do we deal with those issues?
  • What is the difference between an invitation and a command?
    If you were the young man, how would you have reacted?
    What does that tell you about your own spiritual life?
  • How can we as individuals respond to God’s powerful gift?
  • Nothing is impossible for God. When we invoke God’s power on our behalf, what do we humans usually ask for?
    What does Jesus seem to be saying we ought to ask for?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

What do you think the phrase “Kingdom of God” means? We have to think about this a lot, because many were taught that the kingdom of God only refers to heaven—the afterlife. But a more complete reading of scripture holds two images of the kingdom in a sort of tension: it is a world in this life which mirrors God’s ultimate plan for everyone, a world of justice peace and love. It is also life with God where all of these thing are ultimately completed. Beyond this life. Today’s passage does manage to conflate the two ideas: The Kingdom of God is now and not yet. If we only focus on getting into heaven, then we squander all our energies just trying to stay out of sin. Exhausting! But trying to make a better world is not exactly easy either.

This is where we need God. So I ask myself:
Where in my spiritual life have I focused all my energies?
What attachments do I need to free myself from to be free to love as Jesus did?
What if I cannot be perfectly good or perfectly generous of my time and treasure?
Do I ask God’s help in this mighty endeavor of a lifetime?
Do I understand that no matter where I am in my journey, God is right there with me helping my drag my particular camels through a narrow passage we call the saintly life?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

“Well, Well, Well! Look who has just come up to talk to this preacher guy! Aren’t you surprised to see the son of our local chief, with all the wealth and distractions he possesses, come to speak to this dusty, unimpressive little man whom they call Jesus? Everybody else is dressed for a coming journey with Jesus, in their worn tunics and dusty sandals. This young man is dressed in a lovely wool tunic, what loos like new sandals. He has some rings on his fingers and his beard is neatly trimmed; he surely stands out it this crowd. We all know that this young man is considered a sort of “straight arrow”, obeying all the rules. What could he possibly want from Jesus? He has everything any of us could ever hope to have. But wait, the young man exchanges some earnest words with Jesus, then turns and leaves, looking very downcast. Those standing around seem very quiet and it is as if all energy has left with this young person. It is sad. I wonder what Jesus said to him. Whatever it was, it was not an angry exchange, because Jesus is looking at this man who is leaving with love and compassion. Maybe I will find out later just what was said….

Well, all three synoptic gospels relate this story, and several things stand out: Jesus asked the man to give up everything he owned and follow Jesus, and the man was sad because he was not ready to make that commitment and to give up every material thing he possessed. But Jesus did not condemn him and hurl a curt dismissal of the man; instead Jesus seemed to feel a genuine sympathy for him. And every gospel account relates Jesus commenting how hard it is for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God. Yes, how hard it is for me to enter into a kingdom where children do not go to school hungry, if they go to school at all; how hard it is to enter a kingdom where no one goes without healthcare, and other necessities like a place to live, IF IT MEANS THAT I HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING I POSSESS IN ORDER TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. And yet, Jesus seems to understand my reluctance, and waits and hopes for me learn to let go of some of the trappings of power and wealth in order to bring the Kingdome of God to fruition. I hope I develop the wisdom and courage to get there….

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province, 2024:

Frequently people will say they are “blessed” because they are healthy, have a good family, comfortable home, food to eat, etc. What does that say about people who lack these “blessings” because of poverty, sickness, civil conflict, etc. Are they not “blessed?” Are they left out of God’s loving care and concern?

The rich man and his contemporaries would have regarded his wealth as a sign of God’s blessing. And more. They would have attributed their blessings” to their faithful observance of the law. Which was suggested by the man’s response to Jesus’ listing of the commandments. “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” To that response Mark tells us, Jesus looked at him with love and invited him to sell everything and join the rest of his disciples. “Go sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” But if he gives up his worldly possessions, what will he have to show he is “blessed” by God?

The question for me is: how do I regard the good things and the bad things that have happened in my life? Do I think of God as a dispenser of good luck as a reward for being good? Do I think God “blesses” those who follow the rules and are considered “good people”, with good luck and good fortune? Have I ever prayed for God to grant me a particular favor, because I have played by the rules and I have sort of earned it? On the other hand, have I ever looked upon those who have suffered a job loss, economic reversal, even bad health or the loss of a loved one as people who must have done something to deserve it? Have I considered them worthy of pity, but in a condescending, somewhat judgmental sort of way? How do I think Jesus viewed the rich and successful people he encountered? How do I think he viewed the poor, the sick, the outcast?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Adapted from Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

I allow myself time to think about what Jesus loves about me. This is not attraction or friendship, this is AGAPE (a love that wants only the best for me, and is unconditional). I rest in the knowledge that anything Jesus hopes for me, wants for me is my happiness and joy—and I don’t move on until I do!

Jesus may show me the one thing that is holding me back from freedom. I can walk away or I can ask for help to deal with it.

Can I assure Jesus that I adhere to his basic commandments? If not, which one is most difficult for me right now?

Is Jesus asking more of me—a loving concern for my poorer neighbors that gives generously without counting the cost? Taking the extra time to talk to someone in my family or friend circle who is lonely—needy and maybe annoyingly so, yes, but also lonely? Jesus does not invite me to mediocrity. I need to challenge myself a little.

He asks everything but he does it with great love. What is Jesus asking of me right now? What is my answer? Do I realize he loves me no matter what my answer is?

Speak to Jesus about your response to his invitation; speak to him also about your recognition of his great love.

Poetic Reflection:

The rich young man in the gospel was asked to give up his wealth and his comfortable life, to “go further in”. What does Thomas Centollela (former Stegner fellow) say it means to “go further in”:

“At Big Rec”

A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying.
Then the walk home, and the sudden rain
comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
you want it hitting you in the forehead
like anointment, blessing all the days
that otherwise would be dismissed
as business as usual. Now you’re ready
to lean on the rail above the empty diamonds
where, in summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
for one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
that unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man for a while,
tap along with his cane past the market stalls
and take in, as if they were abandoned,
the little blue crabs which within an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
all the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

Closing Prayer

Lord, your world is so wide, so big, and my heart is often so small, so narrow. Help me to focus less on sin and staying out of it, and more on love and staying in it.