In this Gospel passage, a young man is told that to have eternal life, he should sell his stuff and follow Jesus. That’s a big ask. It’s something that scares me and seems impractical. I would be a burden to others who would have to house and feed me at the very least.
I suspect my reaction is because that kind of radical response is not my calling. I have met people who have a call to voluntary poverty. I don’t think I’m one of them. I do think it’s a reminder to not cling too tightly to the things of this world, both physical items and attitudes.
Having children and pets has helped me let go of some of it. A decent amount of my stuff has been wrecked by a dog that likes to chew or a kid with butterfingers. Getting angry at the broken bowl or chewed up kitchen towel and acting on that anger is not following Jesus. The same is true for beliefs. Holding onto a negative perception of a person or gripping the hurt I have experienced by another isn’t following Jesus either. Jesus taught us to love others and forgive them.
Maybe it’s those types of things Jesus was talking about in the Gospel. Maybe he’s not asking me to live in a refrigerator box on the sidewalk but rather to loosen my grip on the things and attitudes that keep me from union with him.
Daily Reading
Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 1 Cor 1:26-31 Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.Not many of you were wise by human standards,not many were powerful,not many were of noble birth.Rather, God chose…
Saint of the Day
Saint Raymond Nonnatus
Saint Raymond Nonnatus, delivered by cesarean after his mother’s death, is the patron saint of expectant mothers and midwives.
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