Gospel Reflection Oct 13 – Fr. Black
Sunday, October 13
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mk 10:17-30
Gospel:
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and your mother.”
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.”
At that statement his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
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.”
Peter began to say to him,
“We have given up everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Gospel Reflection:
How hard indeed it is to let go of our earthly possessions. They bring us such things as comfort, security, pride and enjoyment. They are a very large part of our earthly life. The point of Jesus’ words is that those things are not a part of our Heavenly lives. As they say, you don’t see a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer. If it isn’t going with us into the Eternal Kingdom, we shouldn’t cling to it here on earth. We can certainly use them, enjoy them, even value them. But we must never cling to them. If we do, we run the risk of keeping our focus in this world, Jesus is always calling us to keep our focus on the Kingdom of God for guidance and for what is really of true and lasting value.
Father Black