October 11^th 2015. 28^th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: Mark 10:17-30

(Translation of a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio)

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

GOSPEL                                    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.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Jesus tells the rich young man that he can have life in the fullest sense if he keeps the commandments. The young man replies that he already keeps the commandments, thus implying that simple observance of rules does not give him life. This brings us to the crux of this Gospel: what kind of relationship must we have with God if that relationship is to bestow life in the fullest sense? Clearly, keeping commandments (as the young man has done) is not enough. The answer is provided by Jesus. Jesus looks at the young man with love and tells him to renounce his possessions and follow him. This is what Jesus wants from us: a relationship of love. If we love someone, then we do not say to them, “I love you to this extent only. There are certain things that I have that you cannot share. There are certain things to which I am attached, and I am not willing to give up these attachments for you”. The relationship with Jesus must be total if it is to be authentic. This is what Jesus is saying to the young man. The young man simply keeps the rules but is not attached to God. He is too attached to his possessions. If we do not serve God then we will serve something else. If we do not draw life from God then we will try to draw it from somewhere else. We are all attached to our physical wellbeing, our physical possessions, our esteem in the eyes of others. We try to draw life from these things and they are obstacles to our drawing life from God. Jesus looks at us with love and asks us to renounce all these lesser things, entering instead into a radical relationship of attachment to him.

“Inheritance” for the people of Israel referred to a positive condition of life here and now

This Sunday’s Gospel recounts the important story of the rich young man who is invited to follow the Lord in a radical way. The first reading is from the Book of Wisdom where we are told that riches are nothing compared to the gift of wisdom. The life of God cannot be compared to any of the goods of this world. The young man in the Gospel asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. In the Old Testament, the word “inheritance” referred to the possession of the land that was distributed among the twelve tribes of Israel by Joshua. To have an inheritance in this sense referred to participation in the possession of a gift that had been bestowed upon the people of Israel. The term “inheritance” thus always referred to a state of life that someone enjoyed here and now and not simply in the next life, a state that was not threatened by trivial things in this life.

The crux of the Gospel is this: How do we go beyond mere obedience to the commandments towards living a true state of authentic relationship with God?

The young man addresses Jesus as “good”. Jesus replies that no one is good except God alone. Then he tells the young man that he must keep the commandments and he lists them explicitly. In other words, Jesus is saying that the relationship that is due to God is one of obedience, trust and abandonment of oneself to God through participation in this covenant with Moses in which the commandments were given. This is life, Jesus is saying, and life involves a relationship of love with God and neighbour. The young man replies that he is already doing these things, but it is clear that they are not giving him life! They are simply things that he does and they do not take him beyond the mere actions themselves. Here we are at the crux of the issue of what it is that transports us from our own life here below to the life of God. Jesus looks at him, loves him and says “Give everything you have to the poor and come follow me”. The fact that Jesus looks at him indicates that here Jesus is calling the young man to a direct personal relationship with him. In the psalms we implore the Lord to show us his face. A look can be more or less personal but the Gospel tells us that Jesus looks on the young man with love. Love is the key which explains the meaning of what Jesus says.

If we truly love God then we will not hold part of ourselves back. If we are truly attached to God then we will not be attached to possessions. If we truly serve God then we will not serve another.

The young man is to sell what he owns, give the money to the poor and follow him. Then he will have treasure in heaven. If a person truly loves another then the relationship has a global dimension. If a young man said to his girlfriend, “I love you, but you can’t have access to any of the things that I possess”, then the girl would hardly be too impressed. When we love another, then we place our entire lives at the other’s disposal. A father cannot be a true father if he does not place his entire being at the disposal of his children. Brothers and sisters cannot have a true fraternal relationship if they do not do likewise. Jesus asks that I place myself entirely at his disposal because he knows that if I do not give my life to him then I will give it to something else. Nowadays our workplaces often ask for this kind of total dedication to our careers. Other things in life – physical wellbeing, the esteem of others – also demand this kind of total involvement. If we do not give ourselves totally to Jesus then we will give ourselves to something else. If we do not serve him, then we will serve something else. This Gospel is calling for an extraordinary leap of a Paschal kind. The leap might seem difficult, but it is difficult only from a human perspective. It is indeed impossible for humans to give themselves in a total sense, but nothing is impossible for God. God can transform nothingness into being. He can teach us to love and to transform this nothingness into life.

We are asked to choose between life and death, between total attachment to God, or attachment to ourselves. It is the fear of losing what we possess that prompts us not to opt for God. Thus the possessions of the  rich young man are an obstacle to his relationship with Jesus. Similarly, our possessions, our attachment to our wellbeing, our public image, our possession, are obstacles to our entering into a relationship of life with Jesus

The story of the rich young man is not only for saintly individuals nor for people living the consecrated life. It is relevant for anyone who wants to have an authentic relationship with God and an authentic relationship with other people. Only the Holy Spirit can free us from our terror of losing ourselves. The rich young man finds himself in this dizzyingly splendid situation of being able to choose the path of authentic life. We too have this scandalously sublime freedom of being able to say no to God, but he gives us the grace to say yes. We can accept or decline. Often it is fear that causes us to decline. We have a fear of losing something, and we are only afraid of losing it because we are convinced that we possess it. Thus, our possessions become our tyrant. To become radically attached to Christ we need to attain the liberty to give up these possessions.