Celebración de la palabra

Not willing to pay the price

Ben Sirach states that all, even the just, are affected by sin, and therefore, he sounds a call for penance.
The young man of the Gospel is proud, perhaps a bit pharisaical, to have observed the commandments since his childhood. But Jesus asks more: for the kingdom of God one must be willing to follow Jesus absolutely and give up everything else for it. Jesus’ offer is too demanding for him to be accepted. The young man was not willing to pay the price. Are we always willing to pay it fully?

Reading: Sirach 17:24-28

A person with shifty eyes is cooking up evil for sure; the best strategy is to rush off in the opposite direction. When you meet such people, they say nice things and compliment your opinions, but at the last minute their lips curl and the knives come out. I’ve disliked many things, and I’ve never liked unfaithful friends. Even the Lord dislikes them.
As a stone tossed in the air will fall on your head, so a lie that wounds another will also wound you. Whoever digs a hole will fall into it; whoever tries to trip up another will be tripped up; whoever sets a snare for another will step on it.

Gospel: Mark 10:17-27

As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”
He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”
The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”
That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.
Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”

Prayer

God our Father,
your Son Jesus, looks at us with love
and he asks us to follow him
generously and radically.
But you know how hard it is for us
not to be attached more
to things and people than to you.
Sustain us in our struggles
to be fully free for you and people,
for what is impossible for us
you can do in us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.