by Fr. Jose “Joesum” Sumampong, Jr.
October 10, 2021
Twenty Eighth Sunday in OT (B)
Wisdom 7: 7-11 / Psalm 90: 12-17 /
Hebrew 4: 12-13 / Mark 10: 17-30
THE JOY OF GIVING UP EARTHLY RICHES TO GAIN ETERNAL LIFE
Word: As Jesus was setting out on a journey to Jerusalem, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk l0:17).
The man came running to Jesus. Why running? Many scriptural commentaries tell us that this seems to suggest that it was a decision he made on the spur of the moment. He had not really stopped to think out the implications of this question, especially where it might lead him to.
Why did he come to Jesus? Being rich and young (cf. Mt 19:20), he would have been happier with his lot. But, the fact is, he was still questioning. His riches and his comforts did not yet harden his heart. He was still opened to the challenge of inheriting eternal life.
It would be easy to impute negative motives to the man who confronted Jesus in today’s gospel. After all, since childhood he had kept the commandments. What more did he need from Jesus – an affirmation of his righteousness, maybe a reward? It is safer to think of this man as one who was driven by the same goodness that motivated his personal adherence to the Law since the time of his youth.
Knowing he lacked something, he came running to Jesus and threw himself at his feet breathlessly asking what more he must do “to inherit eternal life.” He even called Jesus “Good Teacher,” a rarely used title suggesting his great respect. Jesus seemed to dismiss the epithet, but perhaps he was inviting the man to think further about what he had said.
This is shown in his question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He longed for action. He had a realization that words would not be enough. More than words it is deeds that count.
Jesus answered him…, “You know the commandments: ‘ You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal…’ He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, “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” (Mark 10:18-21).
The commandments were recited by Jesus in summary fashion, not as a teaching. Finding relief, the man informed Jesus he had kept them. Time stopped as Jesus looked at him with love, a love based on the man’s faithfulness at keeping all the commandments of the Law. The suggestion of Jesus to “go, sell what you have, and give to the poor… then come follow me” was not intended for everyone in the crowd, but it was meant for this person who was asking him. Nobody moved while “he went away sad” and then slowly walked away.
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Order: Suddenly Jesus shattered the silence with the pronouncement: “How hard it is …” Let us not however be tempted to dilute Jesus’ call for renunciation of worldly wealth. Stunned by the reversal of Jesus of the popular belief that wealth was a sign of God’s approval, the disciple started to panic.
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” (Mk 10:26-27).
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Realities: 1. Two buckets met at the well. One of them looked morose. “What’s the trouble?” asked the second bucket sympathetically.
“Oh!” replied the first, gloomy bucket, “I get so weary of being dragged to this well. No matter how full I am, I always come back here empty.”
The second bucket laughed, “How curious! Why, I always come here empty and go away full. I’m sure if you started to think that way, you would feel much more cheerful.” (Cheer Up¸ OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM)
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2. Instead of referring to the sins of the world, we sometimes even liturgically talk about the sin of the world. This is a kind of cumulative sin … and it keeps getting worse all the time. It is very akin to our atmosphere which is becoming more and more polluted with gases and exhaust fumes and aerosols. We live in an atmosphere of sin just as we live in today’s atmosphere of pollution by noise and air and water and soil… (Frank Mihalic, THE SIN OF THE WORLD)
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3. If two goats meet each other in a narrow path above a stream of water, what do they do? They cannot turn back, and they cannot pass each other, for there is not an inch of spare room. Instinctively, they know if they butt each other, both will fall into the water below and be drowned. What would they do?
Nature has taught one goat to lie down so that the other can pass over its body; as a result, each goat arrives at its destination safe and sound. Try it. It works. (Pulpit Helps, HUMILITY)
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4. At a railway station, a traveler noticed a dog tied to a post on the platform. He said to a porter standing by “That dog looks very miserable. Where is he going?”
The man replied, “That’s just the trouble. I don’t know, and the dog doesn’t know. He’s chewed his label.”
The bishop of London once wrote, “Thousands of people are on their journey through life today, having surrounded themselves with all the supposed prerequisites for their physical comfort. But they make no attempt to discover the destination to which they are traveling.” (The Upper Room, DESTINATION UNKNOWN)
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5. James Kallam tells this amusing story in one of his writings. “Years ago a young door-to-door book salesman was assigned to a rural area. One day he came upon a farmer seated in rocking chair on his front porch. The young man went up to the farmer enthusiastically and said, ‘Sir, I have a book here that will tell you how to farm ten times better that what you are doing now.’ The farmer did not bother to look up. He simply kept on rocking. Finally, after a few minutes, he glanced up at the young salesman and said, ‘Young man, I don’t need your book. I already know how to farm ten times better than what I’m doing now.'”
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Direction : Let my conscience be upright, my outward appearance be modest, my conversation be edifying, and my whole life be ordered. Help me to labor to overcome nature, to cooperate with your grace, to keep your commandments, and to further my salvation. Teach me the futility of earthly things, the greatness of divine things, the shortness of temporal things, and the length of eternal things. Grant that I may be prepared for death, fear judgment, avoid hell, and obtain paradise— through Christ our Lord. (Prayer for All Things Necessary to Salvation, Clement XI <1649-1921> Pope and Scholar)