Careful What You Ask For

August 20, 2018

Today’s gospel seems to be a comment on prayer, spiritual maturity, and attachment. The rich young man asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” Don’t we all want to know the answer, the formula, or the correct way to enter heaven? Have you ever been stumped by a riddle and in exasperation begged for the gosh darn answer! I like this kid’s tenacity. Just tell me what I need to do to have eternal life. And that’s just it, we cannot “do” anything to earn grace or more love from God or eternity. Heaven is an open invitation to all of us, but we must know God in order to choose God. How do we know God? Jesus says, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” The commandments he mentions are all ones that have to do with how we treat others. Entering into life means entering into life-giving relationships with others in the name of the One Good God. We will have and know God when we follow Jesus and through our treatment of one another. 

This young man is persistent in his questioning, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” This seems like a simplified version of an examination of conscious and like a very wise thing for us to incorporate into our daily prayer. Lord, what do I still lack that keeps me from being all in? Lord, what am I missing? Lord, how can I love you more? Lord, help me to know you better. What if I began and ended my day with these questions? 

Careful what you ask for kid! Jesus says, alright then, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.” Perfection requires detachment from this world, serving the poor, storing your treasure in heaven, and following Jesus. When we serve the poor, the lowly, the unlovable, the forgotten, the ill, the lost, the marginalized, the sinful, and the powerless, we deposit pieces of our heart in the place already reserved for us in heaven. When we pass from this earth, our heart will reunite itself with the pieces of our heart already sent to heaven through our acts of mercy, kindness, love, and service. These are not earnings per se, but ways of knowing God and the better we know God, the more likely we will be to choose Him in the end. The things of this world are shiny and attractive and irresistible at times, but at the end of the day they are just not enough and we are constantly looking for more. The things not of this world come in distressing disguise; however, they satisfy the longings of our hearts for they draw us into the heart of God. 

It says, the rich young man went away sad for he had many possessions. It occurred to me today that I just assume that this guy didn’t follow through with Jesus’ recommendation, however, just because he went away sad, doesn’t mean that he did not eventually do as the Lord directed. This gives me hope for the times when God reveals things to me that I must do that are hard or inconvenient or scary. One last observation is that he was sad because he had many possessions. Let’s face it, we all have many possessions and possessions do not make us happy. What brings us joy is being possessed by our Good Good Father and we can only become possessed by storing those riches in heaven through service to the poor and powerless. This is what Jesus teaches us very clearly today. I’m not suggesting an epic garage sale of all our worldly things tomorrow, however, giving away pieces of our hearts to those in need is a perfect way to begin, and it is well with my soul. 

Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 419

Reading 1 EZ 24:15-23

The word of the LORD came to me: 
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, "Will you not tell us what all these things
that you are doing mean for us?"
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
Say to the house of Israel: 
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.

Responsorial Psalm DEUTERONOMY 32:18-19, 20, 21

R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing
and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
"I will hide my face from them," he said,
"and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!"
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
"Since they have provoked me with their 'no-god'
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a 'no-people';
with a foolish nation I will anger them."
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Alleluia MT 5:3

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?"
He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
He asked him, "Which ones?"
And Jesus replied, "You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.