Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The story of the rich man coming to Jesus and asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life,” is one of the most compelling stories in gospel of Mark. In the upcoming verses, Mark will contrast this story with the story of the blind beggar who left everything a followed Jesus. But today, it’s all about the rich man.
Let me offer three points for reflection:
What is your deepest quest?
The question that the rich man asked Jesus was: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk 10:17). Every one of us, depending on the stage of life we are in, has our deepest questions. For a little child the deepest question might be what he or she might get this year for Christmas. As we mature in adulthood, our deepest questions change because our needs change and our perspectives change. Relationships, marriage, family, jobs, and security begin to replace childish questions. When we retire our deepest questions revolve around of life, health, death, and eternity. No matter what stage of life we are in, our deepest questions tell us something about ourselves.
I find the story of man in the gospel very attractive because even though he had many possessions (in Luke version of the story he was also, young) his question was about eternity. What does his question tell us about him? It tells us that his heart was in the right place; that he lived life with one eye on the world and the other on eternity; that he was on the right quest. What are your deepest questions these days? If you could ‘run up’ to Jesus and ask a question today, what would it be? And what would your question say about you?
The Power of Wisdom
Today’s liturgy combines the story of the rich man with the first reading from the book of Wisdom. How do understand wisdom? Wisdom tells us how God acts in the world. Wisdom is, or reveals, life from God’s perspective. Wisdom helps us to live life in the way God intended it to be lived. In fact, there is nothing more precious than wisdom because wise people live life from the perspective of the Creator. That is why, today’s first reading says, “… all gold, in view of her [Wisdom], is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire” (Wis 7:9).
The rich man in today’s gospel was on his way to being wise. He was asking the right questions. However, the story also tells us that it is one thing to ask the right questions and quite another to accept the right answers. The rich man asked the right question, but he could not accept Jesus’ answer. He simply could not comprehend life from Jesus’ perspective. For him, his possessions were significantly more important than the wisdom that Jesus was revealing. He walked away! He reversed the role of wisdom and wealth. He sacrificed wisdom for the sake of his possessions whereas the book of Wisdom says, “… all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire” (Wis 7:9).
In other words, wisdom lies not only asking the right questions but also in being able to accept the answer that God reveals. Wisdom lies in being able to live life from God’s perspective. If we want to be wise, it is not enough to ask the right questions; wisdom lies in also accepting what God has to say.
Wisdom is a Free Gift
I want to begin my third point with the very first verse from today’s reading from Wisdom. It reads, “I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me” (Wis 7:7). Is wisdom available to all? How can you and I be wise? Where do we seek wisdom?
For us Catholics, wisdom is first and foremost found in God’s word. Today’s second reading says, “Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Heb 4:12). If we want to be wise, the first thing to do is to expose our lives to God’s word and expose God’s Word to our lives. We have to allow God’s word to penetrate our soul and spirit, joints and marrow, our thoughts and our heart. Second, we see God’s Wisdom in the life of Jesus. The Beatitudes, for example, reveal the wisdom of God. Jesus’ life is the Beatitudes/Wisdom lived out practically in real life. Wise people think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and act like Jesus.
The pandemic is a classic example. We all asked the right question. How can this pandemic end? Wisdom says, together! But not all were willing to be led by wisdom. The common good was sacrificed for individual freedoms. The rich became richer, and the poor became poorer. Ideological loyalties triumphed caring for the weak and vulnerable. Like the rich man, people chose to walk away. Not everyone chose to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus or act like Jesus.
Social media is yet another example. Social media requires great use of wisdom. All social media platforms use algorithms to bring incendiary, violent, divisive, and dehumanizing content to the forefront to generate more traffic, which in turn, sells more ads, and social media giants make more money. But people use social media foolishly. They insult and offend others, post negative and abusive content, and perpetrate a culture of hate and violence.
On every issue in our times – building a culture of life, climate change, racism, economic disparities, global policy making, and domestic politics – it not enough to ‘run up’ to Jesus and ask, “What must we do to inherit eternal life?” Eternal life lies in acting with God’s wisdom; in being led by the word of God; in thinking, talking, and acting like Jesus.
Wisdom is on the altar today. May we not only ask the right questions but let us also allow Wisdom to lead us. Let’s not walk away!
Fr. Satish Joseph