In the gospel passage read in today’s liturgy (Matthew 19:16-22), a young fellow asks Jesus about how to gain eternal life. When Jesus mentions the Commandments, the young man says he has kept them but wants to know what else he must do. He becomes disheartened when Jesus tells him to sell his many possessions and give the money to the poor.
It is possible that the young man did try to keep the Commandments and that he was moderately successful. Many of us try persistently to follow God’s laws. We might even become strictly or legalistically compliant. Have we ever thought, however, that we could come even closer to God’s kind truly encompassing love? It doesn’t have to always be through bold and daring heroic gestures, although these may be necessary. Could the pursuit of Jesus’ “life” and true love start with anonymous or unexpected thoughtful gestures and prayers? Maybe we can come closer to eternal life and love by using our selflessness and our off-the-cuff prayers for someone who is troubled. Perhaps we could attend a weekday Mass, stop by a church and pray in front of the tabernacle for peace in a country at war. Maybe an out-of-the-blue thank-you to Jesus for helping us to avoid a persistent temptation could pop up in our prayer time. The Holy Spirit might give us a charitable suggestion and we decide to act on it. How about giving a smile, a word of encouragement, or an unexpected compliment to someone we don’t even know—-just because he or she is in our path?
More generally, have we ever offered up a spontaneous prayer when we have seen a police car go whizzing by, responding to an emergency? If we hear an ambulance or fire truck in our vicinity, a quick prayer to the Lord for help and safety for those involved might, simultaneously, draw us closer and closer to the Source of Love.
Let us confidently pray Psalm 16:8-11:
I set the Lord ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
🙏
Painting: Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler, Heinrich Hofmann (1889). Riverside Church, New York City. Public domain.
The psalm is from the New American Bible , Oxford University Press, New York. 1990
Sharon Krause is a RENEW volunteer whose writing has appeared in several resources for small-group faith sharing. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother residing in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. Over the years, she has served in many parish ministries.