You may have heard of the professional organizer named Marie Kondo, with her popular show on Netflix, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. Her organizing method is called KonMari and the main criteria for sorting through one’s possessions is to hold each item to see if it brings you a “zing” of joy or to ask, “Does this item spark joy?” If the item does not “zing” or “spark joy”, the person is to thank the item, bless the item, and promptly send the item on its way. At first it struck me as a lovely thing to do, and then I started to see how hard it was for people (especially Americans) to part with their precious material items. When meltdowns happened over silly things like old concert t-shirts from the 1980’s I started to see why the guy in today’s gospel went away sad. Today’s gospel correlates spiritual maturity to detachment from this world. Basically, Jesus’ KonMari method is to find your “zing” in your relationship with the Good Good Father.
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? 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…zing.
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?...spark of joy.
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…they do not spark joy.
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 (no zing of joy). What sparks real joy is being possessed by our Good Good Father and we can only become possessed by spending time in His presence. This is what Jesus teaches us very clearly today. I’m not suggesting an epic garage sale of all our worldly things tomorrow, however, holding God’s heart in our hands, feeling the zing of joy that it sparks, thanking it, blessing it, and giving it away seems like a great place to begin. It is well with my soul.
Reading 1 JGS 2:11-19
The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.
Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who led them out of the land of Egypt,
they followed the other gods of the various nations around them,
and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD.
Because they had thus abandoned him and served Baal and the Ashtaroth,
the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel,
and he delivered them over to plunderers who despoiled them.
He allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies round about
whom they were no longer able to withstand.
Whatever they undertook, the LORD turned into disaster for them,
as in his warning he had sworn he would do,
till they were in great distress.
Even when the LORD raised up judges to deliver them
from the power of their despoilers,
they did not listen to their judges,
but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods.
They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken,
and did not follow their example of obedience
to the commandments of the LORD.
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge
and save them from the power of their enemies
as long as the judge lived;
it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries
of affliction under their oppressors.
But when the judge died,
they would relapse and do worse than their ancestors,
following other gods in service and worship,
relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct.
Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers,
who led them out of the land of Egypt,
they followed the other gods of the various nations around them,
and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD.
Because they had thus abandoned him and served Baal and the Ashtaroth,
the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel,
and he delivered them over to plunderers who despoiled them.
He allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies round about
whom they were no longer able to withstand.
Whatever they undertook, the LORD turned into disaster for them,
as in his warning he had sworn he would do,
till they were in great distress.
Even when the LORD raised up judges to deliver them
from the power of their despoilers,
they did not listen to their judges,
but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods.
They were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken,
and did not follow their example of obedience
to the commandments of the LORD.
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the judge
and save them from the power of their enemies
as long as the judge lived;
it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries
of affliction under their oppressors.
But when the judge died,
they would relapse and do worse than their ancestors,
following other gods in service and worship,
relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct.
Responsorial Psalm PS 106:34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43AB AND 44
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They did not exterminate the peoples,
as the LORD had commanded them,
But mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They became defiled by their works,
and wanton in their crimes.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Many times did he rescue them,
but they embittered him with their counsels.
Yet he had regard for their affliction
when he heard their cry.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They did not exterminate the peoples,
as the LORD had commanded them,
But mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They became defiled by their works,
and wanton in their crimes.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Many times did he rescue them,
but they embittered him with their counsels.
Yet he had regard for their affliction
when he heard their cry.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
AlleluiaMT 5:3
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
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.
"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.
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