Monday February 28, 2022

Monday of 8th Week in Ordinary Time

Not Willing to Pay the Price

The first letter of Peter was written in Rome and addressed to non-Jewish Christians of the Asian region. The assistance of a secretary may explain how his Greek is rather sophisticated for a fisherman from Galilee. He begins his letter with a hymn, as some Greek authors were wont to do. Key themes of the letter, like baptism and the difficulties from the part of non-Christians, appear in this hymn.

The young man of the Gospel is proud, perhaps a bit pharisaical, 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?

 

First Reading :  1 P 1:3-9

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole. I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.

 

Gospel: Mk 10:17-27

As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.” He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!” Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go. Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.” That got their attention. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked. Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”

 

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. Amen.

 

Reflection:

28 February 2022

Mark 10: 17-27

The path to true happiness

Mark says the man who approached Jesus was rich and Mathew presented him as young. So we have combined both adjectives to describe him as young and rich.

Mark narrates the way he approaches Jesus: He comes running and kneels before Jesus. The Gospel had presented two other characters, who also behave like this man. One was the demoniac, who was possessed with an evil spirit. The other was the leper, who felt impure and punished by God. This young and rich man behaves as if he is possessed and that makes him feel impure like a leper.

He is indeed possessed by the most dangerous of demons: the demon that forces him to cling to the goods of this world. It is the devil that makes you attach your heart to the riches of the world. This demon of material riches and possessions dehumanizes you.

But who doesn’t love to be rich and enjoy the comforts of life? In Chinese culture, riches are regarded as the good fortune. On Chinese New Year, people wish one another “Gung-hei Faat-choi” – which means “wish you plenty of wealth and riches.”

But, the greed of riches will make you lose the meaning of life. This man runs up to Jesus for something that only Jesus could give: peace of mind and harmony in his life. Jesus proposes him a new approach to his life. He says: ‘You must share your assets. They are not yours, they belong to God and you must share them with those who need them.’ Give up, abandon, part with – are the words we must pay attention to. The rich young man moves away sad.

Jesus is clear: One does not enter into the new world that he proposes unless one accepts the logic of sharing the goods with all; goods of this world must be transformed into love. Jesus wants to bring to our attention the danger of wealth because wealth possesses the strength of a seductive god.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle….” It cannot happen, even if it tries. But then comes the promise: “For people it is impossible, but not for God; because for God everything is possible.” When we allow the proposal of Jesus to penetrate our hearts, the human nature is restored in our life; and the demon of material possessions and riches is driven out of our lives. Once that leprosy of selfishness is healed from our body, we become joyful to make ourself available to our brothers and sisters.

 

Video available on Youtube: The path to true happiness