Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 19: 16-22

How much do I pay to buy a ticket to heaven? Ah that’s a stupid question, we might say. Who doesn’t know that there is no entrance fee to heaven? But having said that, many of us do hold on to similar view as that of the young man in today’s gospel – that eternal life is a reward for our good works. Through the mouth of this young man, Matthew is voicing the common misunderstanding of the time that if you do something good to please God, he would give you heaven in return. But Jesus rectifies the notion: Eternal life is always gift of God. Incidentally, this is the first time the phrase “eternal life” is mentioned in the Gospel. In the discussion that follows, this phrase is further explained as the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus reminds him of the commandments – given by God. Matthew listed five of these commandments and concluded the list with the all-embracing one: love your neighbour as yourself. The young man is a representative of the restlessness of each one of us .. He feels he is already observing all these commandments, and yet remains unsatisfied. Something is lacking! What else needs to be done? Jesus understands the restlessness of his heart: the restlessness of the human soul until it meets with its creator. Three Centuries after Jesus, another young and rich man would echo these words of the Gospel and say, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until it rests in you.” – St. Augustine of Hippo, in spite of enjoying all the happiness the world could offer, yet realised the meaningless of his life. The story of this rich young man of the gospel and the life of St. Agustine place before us a gospel-truth: the riches of this world and its pleasures fails to offer peace of mind and happiness of the heart. On the contrary, worldly pleasures and their attractions lead to further frustrations and sadness. The young man is in search of life, meaning of life and therefore, he asks: What shall I do to attain eternal life?” Jesus gave him the possible remedy, but he was not willing to take it. St. Augustine, was also in search of happiness in life and finally when comes to realise the meaning of giving up what the world offers, he enters into the joy and peace that God alone could provide. The vocation stories of Apostles – Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew – all of them tell us about how they “got up,” left their boats and the nets – gave up all they had followed Jesus. Are we willing to give up what we have?