Oct 13 Sun
God alone is good. Or, as wise philosophers would say, God is Goodness himself. And all things are possible for God. That is, He is Omnipotent.
The rich man was rich, he was used to people going out of their way to be agreeable to him and to agree with him. Yet now, he had approached Jesus in excitement but went away sad.
The apostles were amazed and exceedingly astonished that rich people, who had it made here on earth, did not also have it made in heaven.
Maybe the rich young man shared this attitude as well. Perhaps he was expecting double congratulations from Our Lord: first for being rich and second for being faithful to the commandments.
Still, Jesus loved the rich man. Not because he was rich. Not even, I think, because he had kept all the commandments from his youth. (And we must ask, did he keep all these commands from his youth? Our Lord had just said, “No one is good but God alone.” When Our Lord said, “You are lacking one thing,” was he being a little ironic?) I think Jesus loved him because he is God who is good. He loves us, too: because he is good, …and we are poor sinners.
All things are possible for God. A man can't save himself by what he does on his own. But God can save a man. To do so, God invites man’s cooperation. Thus, Our Lord’s invitation to the rich man.
The young man was not generous. He chose to keep his riches, which he could go on enjoying for years, but he lost his opportunity to have Jesus, whom he would have had forever. Jesus Christ challenges us to swap the material riches of this world for eternal happiness.
With God’s grace and our freedom, we can be generous, as the rich man, sadly, was not, but which the disciples, happily, were.
This is why we offer back to God every morning (and renew throughout the day) everything we have received. May our prayers, as people of God, help us enter his Kingdom.
If only Christians who are rich in possessions and talents may learn to share what they are and have with those who have less.
God our Father, grant us courage, trust, and integrity. Fill us with the joy that Christ gives us, to do a great deal of good in the world around us. Make us wise with the wisdom of Jesus, who lives with you forever.
We thank our holy Mother Mary. For from her hand, we receive every grace from God. She gave us Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb. From God, she gained for us our Christian vocation and watches continually over us. Have you never wanted to tell your mother, when she showered you with kisses and toys: "How good you are!" Well... tell our Blessed Lady: "My Mother, how good you are!"
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