What Must I Do?

Monday, March 3, 3035

Sir 17:20-24; Mk 10:17-27

Today’s Gospel highlights how the love of material possessions could be an obstacle to entering God’s Kingdom. 

The rich young man who wants to follow Jesus comes asking, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 

His question and answer demonstrate his faithfulness to the Divine Law (Decalogue) revealed by God Himself. 

It is the young man’s faithfulness in observing the Ten Commandments that earns praise from Jesus, and as the Gospel describes, he ‘loved him.’

It is out of this same love that Jesus now calls the rich young man to a life of discipleship by disowning everything. 

What we must note is that Jesus did not find fault with the rich young man’s present way of life, which was in accordance with the Divine Law. Rather, in honest appreciation and recognition of his committed efforts, Jesus raises the bar of discipleship by which he demands a radical action of selling all his possessions and giving to the poor before following him. 

The Gospel describes that the rich young man’s ‘face fell’ at this statement of Jesus. 

Now Jesus invites us to ask why it was difficult for the rich young man to make that radical step in order to follow him.

We can at least point out three reasons for the rich young man’s inability to part with his possessions. 

1.For a man like him who was committed to following the laws of God, it was easy to follow the Ten Commandments with its prescriptions and prohibitions. With no demand for any great sacrifice on his part, it was easy to define his morality based on the sins of commission and omission. 

2. Jesus could see through the rich young man. This is why he places a radical demand for discipleship. It was to test and see if the rich young man would place God above material possessions. But his excessive love for material possessions got exposed, and he failed. Even with all his willingness to follow the Lord, he could not prioritize the Lord over his wealth. 

3. Yet another problem with the rich young man was his minimalistic attitude with regard to morality. He seems to have led his life only believing that doing the minimum is enough to prove his discipleship. This is why his ‘face fell’ when Jesus made the demand for discipleship more radical. Our discipleship is nourished by an expansive and generous attitude, one that is willing to sacrifice everything for the Lord. 

Let us pray that we may inherit a maximalist attitude, that reveals our readiness to sacrifice everything for the Lord.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar