Gospel: Matthew 19: 16-26
Everyone on earth is always looking for eternal youth and to cheat death. Many find it in diets, gym memberships, spas and wrinkle creams, and the like. Most people do not persist in these habits, and even if they did no one cheats death. So, the quest is on for life eternal in the spiritual realm, and it is here that we find this young man approaching Jesus looking for the secret to attaining this goal. At first, the man is encouraged: he's kept all the commandments, but there must be something more.
And there is - give away your stuff, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. In following Jesus you will live a life totally dedicated to helping the poor: you will heal those suffering afflictions; you will deliver them from demons and what possesses them; you will nourish others at table fellowship. That young man, and most of us along with him, drop this diet and gym membership as well. We want the eternal life, but we don't want to do what it takes to get there. So, we create alternative Christian practices that are not what Jesus actually did on earth.
So, today is a day for deep introspection: are we willing to give to the poor, to live a life of simplicity and follow Jesus in his ministry of healing, liberating, and feeding others? What might this look like in our own individual and communal lives?
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