October 10, 2021 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Welcome Father Mathew Today’s Readings: Wis 7:7-11 | Heb 4:12-13 | Mk 10:17-30

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. (Gospel)

DIFFICULT CHOICE OR DISAPPOINTING ENCOUNTER?

The Gospel speaks of the unexpected encounter of Jesus with a young man who seems to be preoccupied by an ultimate goal: to obtain eternal life. How can a person so pious and blessed with temporal possessions approach Jesus, a carpenter of Nazareth, who does not have even a stone upon which to rest his head? (Luke 9:58) His attitude consists of respect and confidence. Besides, he addresses Jesus on his knees, calling him “good Master.” We can even affirm that his confession of faith in Jesus is sincere. Jesus recognizes the moral qualities of this man: “He looked at him and loved him.”

However, Jesus invites him to go beyond the observance of the precepts of the Law. “Go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, then come, follow me.” The meeting seems to end on a disappointing note: love without response and the sadness of refusal. The pride of fulfilling the commandments concluded with an outcome of failure. As strong as he was in belief and fidelity, he lacked the strength to become a disciple of the Good Master.

It was in this way that Jesus taught him and teaches us that faith is a relationship of love and not a legal reality.

His teaching calls us to go beyond. It is not enough to be faithful to the commandments of God, we are invited to follow in his footsteps. To become his disciple will not be successful without a certain self-giving. This is the novelty of meeting with Christ. It should free us from what entraps us as we leave those riches which slow us down in our following of his ways by the side of the road. To give up our ease, our desires to possess and power, are a heroic choice. It does not come through our own strength. This radical choice is not final, it needs to be renewed each day by the grace of the Holy Spirit who alone can produce from our wanderings and our falls, strength to live with him and through him for: “everything is possible with God.”

Source of reflection: Sister Adrienne Kapela, SNDdeN, on https://www.sndden.org/twenty-eighth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-sister-adrienne-kapela-sndden-english/ Source of image: Heinrich Hofmann, “Christ and the Rich Young Ruler”, 1889

News

• 10 October - Opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as usual after Mass. The parish office next to the church continues to serve as “confessional”.