Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
In the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel describes the calamities that will befall the house of Israel. As is common in Ezekiel, the message is acted out dramatically in Ezekiel’s own life, with the death of his wife. This profound loss is like that which the people of Israel suffer in the destruction of their temple and the death of their children. And yet, Ezekiel’s instructions is for them not to mourn, rather, “you shall rot away because of your sins and groan to one another” (Ez. 24:23). This is certainly a strong statement. We might wonder if this is really how God plans to act towards his chosen people. Ezekiel’s role as a prophet, however, is to bring the people to reality, even if by dramatic means. Here he emphasizes the degree to which the people have forgotten God and gone against God’s will.
This neglect of God is a serious sin, and it was a constant problem for the people of Israel. They failed, over and over again. Then Jesus came onto the scene to redeem these people who had struggled for so many years. In today’s gospel passage, we find Jesus interacting with someone who seems to have it all together. This youth does not represent the sinful people of Israel, but rather he appears to have succeeded at remembering God and doing God’s will. No doubt his fidelity and devotion to God and God’s law bring him to seek Jesus’ advice. This youth is well-intentioned, and perhaps he merely seeks affirmation for the good he has done. Or perhaps he seeks to reach beyond the good he has already done.
Regardless, what the young man finds is something beyond. Jesus instructs him to leave everything in order to follow him. In other words, Jesus challenges even those who remember God in their daily lives. Note that Jesus does not critique this man’s life. He does not say that the commandments do not matter. Instead he tries to draw this man further into life with God…the ultimate expression of this is life as a disciple of Jesus, and it requires sacrifices.
We do not know what finally happened to this young man; we know only his initial response, which was to leave feeling sad because he did not want to part with his many possessions. In his case, the possessions were a tangible obstacle to his intimacy with Jesus. While he could remember God in his following of the commandments, his possessions came between him and a relationship with Jesus. In a sense, they allowed him to forget God.
This gospel presents a major challenge for those of us who live in the Western world; as Americans we surely have many possessions that we do not need. Even for those of us who attempt to remember God at every turn and to live his commands every day of our lives, our possessions may come between us and intimacy with Jesus. The realization of this ought to have the same affect on us as it had on the young man—we ought to feel sad. We can, like this man, simply turn around and go away. Or we can face the challenge and constantly evaluate our life in regard to this issue.
Today, take a few minutes to think about your many possessions. How do they cause you to forget about God? How do they prevent further intimacy with Jesus? Pray that God may offer you guidance in evaluating the purchase and continued use of possessions, and accept that these decisions must be guided by a remembrance of God.
- Maria Morrow