One of the Saddest Stories – Homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

The gospel reading today has got to be
one of the saddest stories in the gospels.
This is the only story in Mark’s gospel
in which a person called by Jesus
responds not by following
but by going away,
by leaving Jesus.

And of all the people Jesus calls,
this young man seems so promising.
First of all, he seeks out Jesus.
And he doesn’t just walk up to Jesus,
he runs up to Jesus as Jesus is about go on a journey.
Jesus is leaving town,
and the man wants to catch him before he goes.
So he runs up and then he gets down on his knees.
We can imagine the look in his eyes,
the eager expression on his face
as he asks
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Just from the question alone we can tell that he’s a person of faith,
a man concerned with more than just this life.
He’s really struggling with how to be a better person.

There were a lot of people who ignored Jesus,
who paid no attention to his ministry,
who didn’t give him a second thought.
But this young man deliberately seeks him out;
he understands that Jesus is a good teacher,
kneels before him,
and asks to be taught.
He looks like such a promising disciple.

And so Jesus says,
“You know the commandments.”
Now, we might expect the young man to say,
“Yes, yes I do, the commandments.
Honor my father and mother;
Do not kill;
do not steal;
do not covet.
Yes, know them,
and I’ve been working on them, trying my best.”

But that’s not what he says.
The young man says,
“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”
A beautiful answer.
Jesus loves that answer.
We can tell because of the next line of the Gospel:
“Jesus, looking at him, loved him.”

We know that Jesus loves everyone,
but how many people in the gospels are directly described
as being loved by Jesus? Not many.
What a special line that is in the gospels,
especially in Mark’s gospel.

Remember that Mark’s gospel is the shortest
of the four Gospels
the most direct.
Mark doesn’t waste words.
That line tells us just how impressed Jesus was by this young man,
how much he appreciates his faith.
So he tells the rich young man what his next step is
to inherit eternal life.

He says,
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.

And how does this faithful, promising young man react?
Does he say,
“Thank you, good teacher, this is what I have been waiting to hear”?
Does he say,
“Ah, now it all makes sense”?
Does he say,
“Got it! Wait here and I’ll be right back after I take care of that”?

Sadly, no.

“At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.”

He just couldn’t give them up,
not even for eternal life.
One of the saddest moments in the gospels.
He’s so close!
Of all people, he seemed like such a promising disciple.
But he fails to recognize
that the most valuable thing he could possess
is nearness to Jesus,
that God is worth more than anything else in our lives.

He has lost track of what his possessions are for.
So can we.

And what are they for?

We can get the beginning of an answer
from The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
One of the meditations in the exercises
presents a set of guidelines for living that goes like this:
“I believe that I was created to share my life and love
with God and other people, forever.”

That’s the first point of the meditation,
that our ultimate purpose is to share our life, to share our love
with God and other people, eternally.

The second point is this:
“I believe that God created all other things
to help me achieve this goal.”

All other things: the sunrise and sunset, the ocean and the sky,
dogs and cats, pizza and beer,
cars, jobs, clothes, cell phones, the Internet, music, movies,
all these things were created to help us in our purpose
of sharing our life and our love with God and other people.
The created world is good because it helps us to fulfill that purpose.

So then the meditation continues by saying
“I believe, therefore,
that I should use the other things God created
to the extent that they help me attain my goal,
and I should abstain from them to the extent that they hinder me.”

This is where it begins to get challenging.
The rich young man’s possessions hindered him
from fulfilling his true purpose,
but he wasn’t willing to let them go.

God has given us the wonderful gifts of creation to help us fulfill our purpose of sharing in God’s life and love,
but when they get in the way then it’s time to let them go.

Like the poor young man, we come before Jesus.
Just as the young man ran up to Jesus
here we are running up to Jesus,
about to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.
During the consecration in a few moments
we will kneel before Jesus
just as the young man knelt before Jesus
asking him
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
In other words,
“What must I do to fulfill my purpose and have fullness of life?”

The first thing Jesus does when we ask that question
is to look on us with love,
the way he looked at the rich young man.

I encourage you this week to take some time and imagine that,
to close your eyes and picture Jesus looking on you with love.
What does his glance look like, what does it feel like?
What is it like to have the Son of God look on you with love?

He looks at each of us with a look that reaches to the depth of our soul.
And then, from that place of deep love,
Jesus is honest with us.
He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Nothing is hidden from him.
And because he loves us,
he tells us what we need to let go of in order to follow him.
What does he say?

What is it that you or I would rather cling to than let go of
in order to follow Jesus?

What created things are we using in a way
that hinders our relationship with Christ?
Can we let them go
for the sake of eternal life,
and accompany Jesus on the journey of faith
or will we walk away sadly?

Being a Christian disciple is not easy.

If someone like the rich young man—
who kneels before Jesus,
who has kept the commandments his whole life—
if someone like him is unable to let go of his possessions
for the sake of Jesus and eternal life,
how much harder it is for us.

And Jesus acknowledges how hard it is.
He says it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for us to give up our possessions.

But it’s not impossible,
because all things are possible for God.

This week let’s ask Jesus to reveal to us the one thing getting in the way,
and then let’s pray for the wisdom and the strength to let it go.