READ
Mk 10:17-30 or 10:17-27
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.
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UNDERSTAND | By Father Greg Friedman, OFM
You’ve heard the expression, “How hard can that be?” We usually employ it to point out the obvious ease or simplicity of some task. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus shocks his disciples by saying not once, but twice how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. “How hard can that be?” Impossible, Jesus declares, without God’s help.
Our culture looks up to and encourages us to become like those with wealth and power. We at least want to have enough of the worlds’ goods to ensure security for our families, and to provide for the future in an uncertain world. And yet, there’s an element of the Kingdom that pushes us to consider the alternative.
Today’s Gospel recommends, even urges, divesting ourselves of goods and attachments for the sake of God. To take the risk of letting go, of seeking alternatives to possessing more and more, in a society that promotes “conspicuous consumption”, that is indeed an impossible task without God’s help.
I can’t begin to spell out what such alternatives might mean in your particular case-I confess to having enough trouble living up to my own religious vow of a simple and unattached life! But I do take heart in Jesus’ assurance that God wants to work with us to explore the possibilities! That brings the Kingdom a little closer for me when I hear these Scriptures.
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DISCUSS | By Father Dan Kroger, OFM
This week’s first reading (Wis 7:7-11), is from the Book of Wisdom. What did the writer of this book pray for?
Was the writer happy when his prayer was answered?
In the second reading (Heb 4:12-13), to what does the writer compares the word of God?
Can we hide anything from God?
According to the Gospel (Mk 10:17-30), what does the man run up and ask of Jesus?
Was the man already keeping God’s law?
When Jesus tells the man that there is one thing lacking, what was it?
Then what did the man do?
ACT
Create a list of your family’s own 10 Commandments. Post them somewhere that everyone can see them on a regular basis as a reminder.
Go through your family’s belongings, such as clothes, dishes, etc., and see if there are things you could do without. Offer them to someone you know who could use the items or donate them to an organization that can distribute them to those in need.
