DAILY GRACE
August 17, 2020, Monday of the 20th Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22
Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; honor your father and mother; also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these; what do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
“‘If you wish . . . ”
The young athlete approached the Olympic trainer, “What do I need to be really good?” Unimpressed, the trainer yawned and said, “You know the routine: eat right, work out daily, see your doctor.” “But I’ve done that since I could walk! What else?” The coach turned. He sensed something here. With a glint in his eye, he ventured, “If you want to go for the gold, leave everything — family, friends, and options. Give away the amateur’s gear. Then come, train with me.” Later, the youth confessed, “I wanted more, but not that much more!”
What do we really want? Paul writes, “. . . the love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Tim. 6:10). “Stuff” doesn’t make us bad or unhappy, just the attachment does, the clinging for dear life to it. “It” can also be security, position, ability, even friendship. When these are wrested from our grasp, it can be devastating. Our relationship to what we value can make or break us. It can impede our relationship with others, even with Christ. What we want can impede what we truly want.
A thirty-something man offered himself to God in prayer one day. Then, realizing the risk, he said in his heart, “God, you’re always on the take! Can’t you leave me, just once, with something?” Silently he heard the reply, “I take you so you won’t be alone.” That is discipleship’s payoff: we follow, Jesus accompanies, and this “treasure” lasts forever. And the willingness to give oneself to Christ makes space within us and among us for a new relationship with him, with our community, with the world, and indeed with ourselves. We are much more than we own; in fact, we are not what we own. If we want, we can be free of “owning” for the sake “being owned,” in Christ, and therefore truly alive.
Prayer
Lord, like the young man in today’s Gospel, I myself often frame everlasting life in terms of gain and loss. What I possess often tightly possesses me. Give me the courage, the trust, the peace to face the grasping that prevents me from saying “yes” to you, and to the life that is truly life. Let me be like the psalmist who prayed: “Many say, ‘May we see better times!’ But you have given my heart more joy than when grain and wine abound” (Ps. 4:7-8).
Contemplation
“You alone, Lord, make me secure” (Ps. 4:9).