8th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, May 24
Ecclesiasticus
17: 24-29 / Mark 10:17-27
The Lord provides a way back; Return to the Lord.
Charlie Rumbaugh grew up in reform schools, jails, and mental hospitals. At the age of 17, he escaped from a manic-depressive ward, found a gun, and held up a jewellery store.
A scuffle ensued and the jeweller was killed. A Texas jury sentenced Charlie to death. Shortly before his execution in September 1985, Charlie asked a friend to pray that God would give him the grace to forgive all the people he'd grown to hate. Moments before the execution, the warden asked Charlie if he wanted to say anything. Charlie said, "Yes." Then turning to the people present, Charlie said, "You may not forgive me my transgressions, but I forgive your transgressions against me. Then he said to the warden, "I'm ready."***
How
earnestly do we pray for the grace to forgive those who have caused us anguish?
"Those who forgive most will be most forgiven." Joseph w. Bailey
***
Ben Sirach
states that all, even the just, are affected by sin and therefore he sounds a
call for penance.
***
The passage from
the first reading begins and ends with the message of God's mercy. In between
is the admonition to do penance and return to God. The urgency of return to God
is given by the motive that is the same now as then: death. Death is for man
the most certain and the most uncertain event of his life. The most certain
because all men have to die and if we die in the state of sin we are certain to
be eternally turned away from God. Death is the most decisive moment in our
life. And yet: Death is the most uncertain. We do not know when, where and how
we are going to die. God should keep man alive because it is only from the
living that he gets his praise. We find this thought elsewhere in the Old
Testament.
Today we
cannot appreciate this thought any more. God gets his praise from the saints
who praise him and who are his glory.
***
Jesus tells
us clearly, there are two ways, but only one goal: heaven, to see God just as
he is. Two ways are leading there: the way of the commandments and the way of
the counsels. The way of the commandments is clearly marked. Jesus mentions only
five commandments. They are the barest minimum of what is required. Even they
are not easy and demand a great effort. Not many can say as the young man does:
All these I have kept from my youth. The commandments express what man needs to
be able to say: I love God and I love my neighbour. If you love, keep the
commandments, Jesus adds: there is a higher way, the way of perfection. Love is
never satisfied with the minimum God is so great that it is wise to give him
all. Give all to gain all. God is greater than all possession. Choose him as
your greatest treasure. Serve him alone in obedience. lie alone can fill and
satisfy a human heart. Give him your whole love in chastity. All this we do in
community with others, even if our work for God would send us back into the
world.
***
The young
man of the gospel is proud, perhaps a bit pharisaically, to have observed the
commandments since his childhood. But Jesus asks more: for the kingdom of God
one must be willing to follow Jesus absolutely and give up everything else for
it. Jesus’ offer is too demanding for him to be accepted. The young man was not
willing to pay the price. Are we always willing to pay it fully?
***
It would be interesting to ask people what they want in life. Interesting because of the answers that they might give. The probable answers are: I want health; I want success; I want freedom; I want independence; I want to be rich, etc. How many would say this: I want to find meaning in life. Or, I want to be the person that I am created to be. That can be the question for our reflection. What kind of person do I want to be? Do I want to be a deceitful person, a greedy person, a nasty person, a selfish person, a wicked person?
Or do I want to be a loving person, a generous person, a compassionate and caring person, a trustworthy and honest person? Such a question is essentially a question of identity.
Because in answering the question, we begin to ask about who we really are, why we are created, and what is the meaning of our existence.
All those questions point to a turning back to God, which is in essence, a repentance. As the 1st reading puts it, to those who repent, God permits return, and He even encourages those who are losing hope.
In other words, when we are losing meaning and hope in life, God comes to us with open arms and gives us meaning in life. When we down to nothing, God will come up with something. But God is not just something. He is our meaning. He is our everything.
***
Prayer
God our
Father, your Son Jesus looks at us with love and he asks us to follow him generously
and radically. But you know how hard it is for us not to be attached more to
things and people than to you. Sustain us in our struggles to be fully free for
you and people, for what is impossible for us you can do in us through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen
