Homily

The Gospel shows Jesus going out and walking towards Jerusalem. It invites us to get involved with Jesus on the path of spiritual growth. The one whom Mark’s Gospel writes about is "running" towards Jesus. He is hurrying to meet him. He is urgently looking for an answer to his life’s question. He is quite a model compared to our usual laziness when we follow Jesus. Mark describes him as an adult (Matthew as a young man). In fact, we can, or rather we must, run towards the Lord at any age.
As soon as he reaches Jesus, the man falls on his knees and asks him a fundamental question, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life" He calls him "good" not because he wants to flatter him but because he does think Jesus to be so. However, Jesus soon corrects him, "Why do you call me good No one is good but God alone." We are used to having a high regard for ourselves, so we should never forget what Jesus teaches us, "No one is good but God alone." Even less are we ourselves good. Being aware of this is not humility, but truth. Understanding our own weakness and sins – as each Eucharistic liturgy urges us to do with the opening invocation "Have mercy on us!" – means taking a first step along the path towards the Lord. The man runs to Jesus and receives the answer to the meaning of life. They begin to talk. Jesus asks him if he knows and respects the commandments. He replies he has respected them since he was young. He is not a "lukewarm" non-practising believer. How many among us could reply the same to Jesus
The Evangelist remarks "Jesus, looking at him, loved him." May we hear these words addressed to us, too. Maybe we are not as anxious as that man for salvation. We must be certain, however, that these words are being addressed also to us: Jesus goes on looking at us and loving us even if we are not good, practising Christians as that man was a sincere religious man. Today, Jesus addresses us with the same deep love and tells us, "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." It is not a neutral statement. The Gospel always requires commitment, a decision, and a reply. The letter to the Hebrews, which we have listened to, has reminded us, "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." We can either reject it and remain just the same, or we can welcome it and change our lives.
The passage we have just heard is one that has most changed the lives of many who listened to it. When Anthony, a young Egyptian from a good family, heard these words, he retired to the desert and became a father to many monks. In the same way, Francis of Assisi heard the words and gave everything up. He became a witness of the Gospel, so much so that he was marked with the stigmata. On the contrary, when the rich man heard these words, he lowered his head, his face darkened, and he went away with a sad heart. The Evangelist ends the passage explaining: "For he had many possessions." Jesus also became sad, very sad. He had lost a friend, a disciple. Even those to whom he could have preached the joy of the Gospel had lost him.
We may wonder whether Jesus’ request is too hard. Isn’t it a demanding word, and doesn’t he risk being left alone Couldn’t Jesus soften it, at least a little bit Could he not make it less demanding and more flexible Jesus’ words after the rich man’s refusal do not allow any objection: "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" He finishes, saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." We should worry and be frightened when we hear these words. As children of a rich world, we are inclined to hoard, to own goods, rather than giving, offering, and sharing. Blessed are these words because they make us profoundly examine our own lives, and remind each believer how easily we can leave the Gospel out and, in the end finally, live sadly.
The evangelist in this page wants to make us decide about the absolute primacy of God. Jesus says we must put God before everything, even before our possessions, and consider the poor as our brothers and sisters who are in debt of love and help. They have a right to our love and support. It may seem that the Lord is asking us to give something up, and he is, partly. But what the Lord is asking is, in fact, a great wisdom of life. Obviously it is not a worldly wisdom that induces us to retire into our shells and into the things of the world. It is a wisdom coming from heaven; we can listen to it from the Holy Scriptures, "I preferred her to sceptres and thrones, and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her. Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold is but a little sand in her sight, and silver will be accounted as clay before her. I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance never ceases" (Wis 7:8-10).
Jesus’ answer to the question Peter asks in the name of the disciples explains the consequences of this evangelical wisdom. Those who leave everything to follow Jesus (that is, who place Jesus before everything) receive one hundred times as much during their life and will receive eternal life after their death. Sometimes we think the evangelical life is, above all, deprivation. The rich man thought like this. Actually, following Jesus is extremely "convenient," not just for the future salvation of our souls, but also to enjoy a hundred times as much life on this earth. The passage from the book of Wisdom ends by saying, "All good things came to me along with her (the wisdom that comes from heaven), and in her hands uncounted wealth." Those who place God first in their lives become members of his family and there they find brothers and sisters to love, fathers and mothers to revere, houses and fields to till.