Wis. 7: 7-11; Ps. 90:12-17; Heb. 4:12-13; Mk. 10:17-30
“All things are possible for God”. Praise be to God for his mercy is everlasting. The man who ran up to Jesus seeking eternal life walked away “sad, for he had many possessions”. He was put to the test that asks of him and us to place God first in our lives. God is first asking of us to have a spirit of self-denial, sacrifice, and detachment. Even when blessed with many resources our focus is on Jesus and not our material wealth. We are to carry a spirit of poverty in the flesh for we are both soul and body with a fallen nature in need of healing.
The living word is Jesus able to discern the heart of the man who remained attached to his possessions. Is Jesus calling everyone to go and sell all their possessions if we want eternal life? Jesus is seeking a heart of detachment from our possessions recognizing the limited purpose of material things compared to the greater reward of eternal life. It is a message he repeats when he says “What profit is it for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Mt. 16:26). What is our priority, what or who are we living for?
The riches of heaven are the gifts of the Spirit that make all things possible. Prudence and wisdom are given to make Godly choices. The commandments are given as foundation stones of love to build a holy temple for the Lord, the temple within our very being. The commandments are also the guardrails against sin. They are the clear markers of obedience to the law of God. As the man points out his obedience to the commandments, Jesus points him to something greater waiting for him. The man chose to walk away. He is the arch-type of each of us who says “yes” but with limitations. “Yes Lord, but only this far.” God’s redemptive love on the cross was complete surrender and this is what he seeks from us.
Thus, the question from Jesus disciples, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus’ response, “All things are possible for God.” As Jesus revealed to St. Faustina there is “an ocean of mercy” ready to be released to those who seek him and he reveals the prayer called the “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy” as a means of seeking his mercy. We also receive the love and mercy of God when we go to confession and sacramentally are forgiven of our sins. Our spiritual and corporal works of mercy are spiritual treasures for the sake of the gospel in which we will receive “a hundred times more now in this present age…and eternal life in the age to come.” Jesus comes to save us but he cannot save us without us. He provides the way but we must follow him.
When the man called Jesus “Good teacher”, Jesus’ response includes saying “No one is good but God alone.” Jesus wants us to recognize him in his divine nature. He also is making it clear our human fallen nature is marked by sin. God is the fullness of good and in his goodness, he has come to save us. All salvation history is God’s divine intervention in humanity to rescue his people. One thing we can learn from the Bible is how often we fail and fall short of God’s divine plan but with God all things are possible.
Even in death for the sinner who believes the possibility of purgatory awaits, for a final cleansing of sin. This is our hope. The imperfect is to be perfected in the image of Christ. The image is by way of the cross. Let us take up our cross and begin to offer it up as a sacrifice for our sin and that of the whole world. This is the redemptive power that makes all things possible coming from the love of God. Glory to God in the highest! He makes the impossible not just possible but a promise.
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