Daily Gospel Reflection

See the Full Story

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Today's reading is one of the most famous readings in the Bible. It's reading the story of the rich young man that approaches Jesus. When we hear these readings that we're very, very familiar with, it's especially important that we focus in, that we listen for words, for phrases, for ideas that we may have missed before in being generally familiar with the Scripture. The reading comes from the Gospel of Mark 10:17-27. And as Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother." And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." And Jesus, looking upon him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing. Go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me." At that saying, his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God." And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man, it is impossible but not with God. All things are possible with God." What jumps out at you today? The idea that jumps out at me is the eagerness of the rich young man. He comes running up to Jesus. He doesn't just bump into Jesus. He came looking specifically. He was seeking Jesus. He was seeking Jesus energetically, enthusiastically, eagerly. He came running up to Jesus. And he said, "Jesus, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said, "You know the commandments." Jesus had answered his question. He'd answered his question. Jesus didn't say, "Well, you've heard the commandments, and on top of that, I need you to do these other things." Jesus had answered his question. But the young man presses Jesus. He says, "I've been observing those since I was young. What more do I need to do?" Jesus wasn't pressing the rich young man. Jesus wasn't saying to the rich young man, "You're not doing enough." When the rich young man said to Jesus, "I've lived the commandments since my youth. I've been dedicated to the commandments since my youth." Jesus didn't say, "Well, that isn't enough." It was the rich young man that was pressing Jesus for more.

And then, of course, Jesus says, "Go sell everything you own, and come and follow me." And the rich young man, for some reason, wasn't able to do that. What's the reason? Well, probably because he's like you and me. Probably because he has this human nature. But I often wonder. We get these snippets of stories in the Gospels. I often wonder like, "What happened to the rich young man? Did he go away sad? Did he stay sad for the rest of his life? Did he stay miserly the rest of his life? Or did he go away sad and then after a couple of days come to his senses and do exactly what Jesus had asked him to do?" We don't see the full story in the gospel. And so it's easy to judge the rich young man. And we don't see the full story in each other's lives. And so it's easy to judge each other. Let's go out into the world and try not to judge anybody today. If you're tempted to judge people, just pray for them. Have an amazing day and remember, be bold, be Catholic.