Gospel: Mark 10: 20-27
A wealthy young man asks Jesus: what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus quotes him the commandments, specifically those relating to our neighbor. We are to avoid doing harm to others in all our actions, thoughts, and words. The rich man states that he has kept all these - what more must I do? Jesus gives him an answer he cannot accept: sell what you have, give to the poor, and follow Jesus along the way. Several reasons exist for the young man's rejection of this invitation.
The young man was right in sensing that it is not enough to merely avoid harming others. What he failed to realize was that in hoarding wealth he was in fact harming other people. He was stealing from them and killing them. When Jesus tells him to sell these riches and give to the poor, Jesus is merely having the man keep the commandments noted above. The young man is asked to perform an act of simple justice, not extraordinary virtue.
In every time and place the rich cannot accept this message. So instead modern Christianity adapts itself to become a cult of the rich and powerful, a place where no burden or correction is placed upon the rich. The commandments Jesus noted are thus riddled with loopholes like the tax code out of which the rich escape. But some heroic souls will hear the call of Jesus - Francis of Assisi, Ignatius Loyola, Vincent de Paul - and give up their wealth to care for the poor, to fulfill justice, and be instruments of mercy and love as Jesus was.
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