Jesus, looking at him, loved him ... his face fell, and he went away sad

“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.”

That word, “possessions” is very important here. It’s not money that he has. It’s possessions. Possessions make their own demands on us!

I sometimes watch a British TV series that is set at a time when the noble landed gentry class was coming to an end. In one episode, things were getting especially bad at one of those big houses that used to be a palace, and the current Lord of the decaying manor complained, “these great houses – we don’t own them; they own us!”

I’m pretty  sure that nearly all of us could point to something that we now own, or did own, or really wanted to own. How many times did we discover that the thing owns us – not the other way around. That flashy sports car needs to be stored, cleaned, polished, repaired, and I hardly ever drive it. How about the vacation house? That has its own tax bill and its own mortgage and its own insurance bill, and it has to be cleaned, and painted. Or the boat? I once heard that the two happiest days in the life of the boat owner are the day when they buy it, and the day when they sell it. Or ...  (insert yours here) Yet we can’t give them up!!

This young man in the Gospel is “everyman”; he’s us; we are him. If we put ourselves into this story, most of us can feel like we belong there.

He was a sincerely religious young man who wanted to do everything right. He was apparently pretty happy with himself when he asked the first question and got the answer about the LAW. He even seemed proud of himself for his obedience to the law. Then he stepped into territory that could be dangerous as he followed up with the second question. Jesus “loved him” and answered him in truth, coming from His Divine love. The young man’s mood changed, “his face fell, and he went away sad”. Jesus continued to love him.

What went wrong? The rich young man was looking for salvation. But he wanted salvation on his terms: by being sure not to break any of the commandments of the LAW. That makes it so simple; even a child can do that. It’s the way we were taught as children, and it’s the way we teach our children. It’s easy; it’s safe; it lets us feel comfortable.

Jesus challenged him in His loving way, and asked him to step out of his comfort zone; he’s asking us to do the same. But we're so attached to our possessions that we can’t be so comfortable without them.

Because none of us can be called “perfect”, there’s always something more that we could do. Jesus is always asking us to do more, He was always willing to do more. Instead of asking Jesus to give us more, could we find a way to give Him more?

A seminary near me has a special program for mature men who have already lived and worked in the world and now feel the call to priesthood. In one of their formation experiences, they leave behind their phones and credit cards – their “possessions", take a single rucksack of clothes and $50, and get a bus ticket to another city 300 miles away. They are to locate a mission-type agency that serves people who are poor, or homeless or addicted or otherwise marginalized. They spend a month in service there, then get a bus ticket back to their seminary and enter a period of guided retreat and reflection. How hard, how uncomfortable, that could be without the strength that’s comes to them through their faith! Do some go away sad? Probably.

In my current group of Catechumens, there are still some who cling to the notion that once the Easter Vigil is over, and they have received the sacraments of initiation, they will be finished. They seem to believe that salvation comes from the one-time experience of initiation – that they are as good as perfect for a lifetime, as long as they don’t break any rules. Our team is working and praying with them to help them open their hearts to the call to prayer, fasting and almsgiving, not just in Lent, but all year.

Perfection in God’s eyes is at the same time both “already here” and “not yet”.

PLEASE PRAY, brothers and sisters.