Fr. Renato R. Repole, SJ
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 11, 2015
Our Gospel reading today reminds us that attaining “perfection” is not easy. It also reminds us how riches can be dangerous even as they are useful. Material things do help us in our day to day living. We need food, clothing, homes, cars, machines, etc. to make life possible and easier. But at times we accumulate them to a degree that they become our “masters” and we become their “slaves.” And this does not happen only to “bad” people.
The man in our Gospel today lived a very “moral” life, following God’s commandments from his youth. He could have rested content with such a life. But Jesus seemed to have sensed a certain discontent with his response, “…all these I have observed from my youth,” and so told him he lacked one thing and commanded him to go and sell his possessions, give them to the poor, and then follow Jesus. But the rich man went away sad because he could not do what Jesus said for his possessions were many. He could have welcomed more commandments like the ones he had already practiced, but it was something else that Jesus demanded – something he was not ready for.
Indeed, those who have little in life often find it easier to let go of the little that they have. Poor people can be more generous than the wealthy. After all, they have verified that they don’t need so much to carry on with life, and that God does not (and has not) abandon(ed) them. But those who have many will always think that giving up or giving away means losing, and they are afraid to go back to having little. But how sad if in our good intention to follow the Lord closely it is our properties, our many and sizable bank accounts, our condo units, our investments, etc. will prevent us from achieving it!
Thus, before we dare God to promise the more that He may (and often, will) require of us, we should be ready for the unexpected, even unpleasant, surprise. Especially in the midst of consolation, we can promise God anything. But the real test is how we respond when God will dare us to enter the zone of “perfection,” which are often our “bIind spots.” In the case of our rich (young) man, he thought, perhaps, that there was nothing that he could not do for God. After all, being able to fulfill all of God’s commandments in the Law was already an achievement not many were able to do. But when we desire perfection, God “will give it” to us. How we wished the rich man had reached the conviction that following Jesus – even if it meant abandoning all his possessions – would mean gaining more in the process. But such a conviction is a grace, a grace we can only beg for.