Monday May 24

EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

NOT WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE

 

Introduction

      Ben Sirach states that all, even the just, are affected by sin and therefore he sounds a call for penance.

      The young man of the gospel is proud, perhaps a bit pharisaically, to have observed the commandments since his childhood. But Jesus asks more: for the kingdom of God one must be willing to follow Jesus absolutely and give up everything else for it. Jesus’ offer is too demanding for him to be accepted. The young man was not willing to pay the price. Are we always willing to pay it fully?

 

Opening Prayer

God our Father,
your Son Jesus looks at us with love
and he asks us to follow him
generously and radically.
But you know how hard it is for us
not to be attached more
to things and people than to you.
Sustain us in our struggles
to be fully free for you and people,
for what is impossible for us
you can do in us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Sir 17:20-24

To the penitent God provides a way back,
he encourages those who are losing hope
and has chosen for them the lot of truth.
Return to him and give up sin,
pray to the LORD and make your offenses few.
Turn again to the Most High and away from your sin,
hate intensely what he loathes,
and know the justice and judgments of God,
Stand firm in the way set before you,
in prayer to the Most High God.

Who in the nether world can glorify the Most High
in place of the living who offer their praise?
Dwell no longer in the error of the ungodly,
but offer your praise before death.
No more can the dead give praise
than those who have never lived;
You who are alive and well
shall praise and glorify God in his mercies.
How great the mercy of the LORD,
his forgiveness of those who return to him!

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7

(11a) Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.

 

Alleluia: 2 Cor 8:9

Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 10:17-27

As Jesus 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.

 

Intercessions

–   For those in the Church who proclaim to us the wisdom of the Word of God, that they themselves may first live it and share their experience with us, we pray:

–   For parents and educators, that they may challenge the young to live for things that matter; and for the young, that idealism and generosity may keep guiding their lives, we pray:

–   For all of us, that we may be deeply aware that by the grace of God we have the strength to answer the invitation of the Lord, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
in these humble signs of bread and wine
we will soon recognize the presence

of your Son Jesus Christ in our midst.
May he give us eyes and hearts of faith
to recognize his real presence also
in all who are poor
and do not count in this world.
Make us small and poor enough
to know that we owe to the poor
what we owe to Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
in this eucharist we have encountered
your Son Jesus Christ.
Let him give us the poverty of heart
to follow him wherever he calls us.
We may have few material things
to sell and give to the poor.
Make us aware of all the riches
of mind and heart, of patience and love
that we can share
and help us to do so wholeheartedly and without regret,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

Usually an encounter with Jesus changes a person. But one can also refuse, like the rich man of the Gospel. May we have encounters with him that change us. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Today is the “World Day of Prayer for the Church in China.” Today the Catholic faithful in China, celebrate with particular devotion the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians and Patroness of China, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. We entrust to the guidance and protection of our Heavenly Mother the Pastors and faithful of the Catholic Church in China.

A man approaches Jesus. The Gospel says he “ran up and knelt before Jesus”. But this time, the request is not for a healing. He was looking for an answer: what must I do to inherit eternal life? Sometime, we are like this young man. All our spiritual exercises, prayers and works of charity are all done in an atmosphere of fear and doubt. If I do not make these prayers.. If I do not attend the liturgy… if I do not take up these acts of abstinence … I might fail to please God. We do a lot of pious religious activities, but would still feel a vacuum, not yet feel the love and peace with in.

This youngster in today’s gospel has an earnest desire to obtain eternal life. He also believes that it is something that we inherit. Inherit a wealth means, it is up to the father/ the owner of the property to decide whether to give it to his children or not. We cannot buy it for money, nor can it be taken by force. It has to come as a gift from the father to the children. Thus, the only way to inherit the father’s property is to please the father, to be in his good books. So this is the question of the young man. What shall I do to please God?

Jesus stares at him with affection and tells him “one thing is missing ”: Give away what you have to the poor. And then follow me! To Jesus, there is no half-hearted responses. Either you give him everything or give nothing! And this is a challenge. Had we accepted this challenge, there would have been no one in our communities who lacked anything.

If this happens in the Christian community, the absurdity that Paul says will occur: some go hungry and others get drunk (cf. 1 Cor 11, 20-22). Some have everything – beautiful car, luxurious house, money in banks, state-of-the-art technological devices … Jesus tells the rich man who kept the commandments since he was a child that he still “lacks one thing” to be his follower: stop owning and hoarding, and start sharing what he has with those in need.

Friends: don’t we live trapped in our selfishness? Jesus has already said: How difficult it will be for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!