Gospel Reflection

October 14, 2012

Year of Faith

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Rev.  Fr. Chris Habal

Mass at EDSA Shrine/Shire of Mary, Queen of Peace/Our Lady of Peace Quasi-Parish

Reading 1 Wis 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.

 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Reading 2 Heb 4:12-13

Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

 

Gospel Mk 10:17-30

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 than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

 

or 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 than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God."

HOMILY

Perhaps the Gospel we just heard is one of the most beautiful Gospel stories we can find in the whole collection of Gospels. We can see the drama unfolding in this encounter between Jesus and the rich, young man. We can almost feel the emotions that go with the words and actions related to us in the Gospel. We can feel the idealism, the youthful enthusiasm of the rich young man, as he ran towards Jesus. We can see, we can feel the love, the gaze which Christ gave to the rich man, with all his good intentions, his desire for eternity. We can also feel the astonishment of the Disciples - astonishment, which is almost unbelief, on the words of Jesus. We can feel the drama, we can feel the emotions, the sentiments of the words and the actions of the Gospel.

But this Gospel is beautiful, not only because of that. I believe that this Gospel is very beautiful because deep within each one of us, deep within every human being, is the rich, young man of the Gospel. The rich, young man mirrors to us the deepest longing of the human heart. "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life"? Deep down every human being, there is that search, longing for the eternal, for that which will last, for that which will remain unchanged in the midst of the many changing things around us. Deep down every human being is a longing for true love, for true happiness. Deep down every human being is the rich, young man, searching for life's meaning. So we must imitate the rich, young man in this regard. Let us not be afraid to think, to reflect, to contemplate, to feel that longing - our longing for eternity, for values that will last, our longing for God Himself.

In the classic, all-familiar words of St. Augustine, we can see the rich, young man. "We are made for You, O God, and our hearts remain restless, wandering, until they rest in You." Sa puso ng bawat isang tao, naghahangad tayo ng kahulugan - malalim na kahuluguhan ng ating buhay. Let us not drown that longing, that innate thirst for eternity, with superficial things - with too much entertainment, with too much luxury, pleasure, with too many diversions blinding our hearts, our minds, shallowing our spirits. There is something eternal in each one of us, because we are created in the image and likeness of God.

We should also imitate the eagerness of the rich, young man. He felt the ultimate questions of life and he ran to the right person. Faced with his search for meaning, he sought it from Christ. Not in money, although he has a lot of that. Perhaps because he has a lot of that, that he felt that money and wealth were not enough. This is the second point that we should learn from the rich, young man. Faced with the deep questions of life, we must run to Jesus. For He alone can give us and show us the ultimate meaning of our existence, of our lives. He alone can lead us to eternal life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, who came to give us life to the full. He is the Living Water that can quench the thirst of the human heart; He is the Living Bread, food that leads to eternal life.

Yes, we should not be afraid to ask the deepest questions and longings of our human heart, but we must also seek it from the right person, who is Jesus Christ himself. Anything less than God, anything less than Christ is incapable of giving meaning to our lives. I say that with conviction. Anything, anyone less than God cannot satisfy the human heart.

The rich, young man was almost there. Jesus gazed at him with love and asked him, "sell what you have and follow Me". It was an invitation to discipleship, it was an invitation to friendship with Christ. But the rich, young man went away sad. His face fell because according to the Gospel, he has many possessions, and this hindered him from responding to the loving gaze of Jesus, from the voice of Jesus calling him to follow. If that is the case of the rich, young man, we should ask ourselves - what hinders us from following the Lord? What prevents us from encountering Jesus? What prevents us from experiencing the meaning that comes from God?

The invitation is detachment, my dear brothers and sisters. Readiness, courage and boldness to leave everything behind - anything, anyone, any lifestyle or attitude that hinders us from following the Lord. Detachment may sound alarming or frightening because it entails giving up something, but Jesus assures us eternal life. When we give up something for Jesus, it is only then that we can really say that we have found the meaning of what we have given up.

These are the beautiful lessons that we can learn from this beautiful Gospel. Never be afraid to face the deepest questions of your life. Search for meaning, search for eternity. But we must find it and seek it from the right person - who is Jesus Christ. He is the meaning of our lives. He leads us to eternal life. We should also be ready for detachment, to part ways with anything or anyone that hinders us from following the Lord. We ask for this grace. May the Lord fill our hearts with His joy, with His healing, with His life, Amen.