When then rich young man eagerly asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, he was encouraged to hear that keeping the commandments was the required criterion. For, these he had kept since his youth. "Aha, I'm in" he must have thought, but then, Jesus added, as he looked at him lovingly, a further requirement: "You are lacking one thing. Go sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Mk 10:21). This knocked the wind from the man's sails, for turned sadly from Jesus, because he was too attached, enamored, imprisoned by his many possessions.
We all might share in this fellow's discouragement and sadness, for in some ways we too are burdened, entangled in our possessions, or our rigid insistence on our opinions or behaviors. We lack the freedom to let go and turn our lives (material and spiritual) over to God and let him take care of us. Like the disciples we too wonder, "who can be saved?" (Mk 10: 26). Jesus agreed that "For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." (Mk 10:27). Looking back, we see this "possibility" lived out over and over: an uneducated farm boy becomes a priest, a founder of the Marist Brothers and a saint; a frail woman with a compassionate heart comforts and cares for the sick and dying, founds a religious order of sisters, brothers and priests and will be canonized next September. A little educated and frail shoemaker becomes a beloved spiritual guide and healer: St. Crispin of Viterbo. Why do we hesitate?
Bro. Rene
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