First Reading (Eccl 17,20-28)
Reading of the Book of Ecclesiasticus.
To those who repent, God grants the path of return, and comforts those who have lost hope, and gives them the joy of truth. Return to the Lord and leave your sins, plead in his presence and lessen your offenses. Return to the Most High, turn away from injustice and firmly detest iniquity. Know the justice and judgments of God and remain constant in the state in which he has placed you, and in prayer to the most high God. Walk in the company of the holy people, with those who live and proclaim the glory of God. Do not dwell on the error of the wicked, praise God before death; the dead, as someone who does not exist, no longer praises. Praise God while you live; glorify him while you have life and health. praise God and glorify him in his mercies. How great is the mercy of the Lord, and his forgiveness towards all those who convert to him!
– Word of the Lord.
– Thank God.
Gospel (Mark 10,17-27)
Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark.
— Glory to you, Lord.
At that time, when Jesus went out walking, someone came running, knelt down before him, and asked: “Good Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good, and no one else. You know the commandments: you shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not harm anyone; honor your father and your mother!” He replied, “Master, all this I have observed since my youth.” Jesus looked at him with love, and said: “You only lack one thing: go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!” But when he heard this, he was dejected and went away full of sadness, because he was very rich. Jesus then looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples were astonished at these words, but he said again: “My children, how difficult it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God!” They were greatly astonished when they heard this, and asked one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible.”
— Word of Salvation.
— Glory to you, Lord.
Reflecting the Word of God
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Imagine yourself running anxiously to meet someone who you believe has all the answers. Your heart beats fast, your breathing labored, as you kneel and ask the question that has been consuming your thoughts: “What must I do to achieve eternal life?”
This scene, so vividly described in the Gospel of Mark, is not just a historical account of an encounter between Jesus and a rich young man. It is a mirror to our own souls, an invitation to examine our deepest attachments and ask ourselves: what really stops us from following Christ with all our hearts?
The man who approaches Jesus seems to have it all – wealth, social status, even a morally exemplary life. “Master, all this I have observed since my youth,” he declares sincerely. We can imagine his hopeful, perhaps even confident, expression. After all, he had followed all the rules, followed all the commandments. You were certainly on the right path, weren’t you?
And then comes the transformative moment. Mark tells us something extraordinary: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Before any challenge, before any call to change, there is this look of love. A look that penetrates beyond appearances, beyond successes and achievements, to the core of being. A look that sees not just who we are, but who we can become.
It is from this love that Jesus makes his revolutionary invitation: “You lack only one thing: go, sell everything you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
We can almost feel the shock, the discomfort, the man’s inner struggle. The text tells us that “he was cast down at this word and went away sad, because he had many possessions.” What a painful irony – he came seeking eternal life, but was unable to abandon the temporal to embrace the eternal.
Our first reading, from the Book of Ecclesiasticus, offers us a complementary perspective on this topic of repentance and conversion. “Return to the Lord and abandon sin,” the sacred author exhorts us. “Pray in his presence and lessen your offenses.”
This call to repentance is not an invitation to self-condemnation or despair. On the contrary, it is a call to hope, based on God’s infinite mercy. As Ecclesiasticus reminds us: “How great is the mercy of the Lord, and his forgiveness for those who convert to him!”
The question we face today is: what keeps us from fully responding to Christ’s call? What are the “many possessions” that we cling to so desperately that we turn away sadly when we are called to give them up?
For the rich young man, the obstacle was literal – his material possessions. But for us, the “many goods” can take different forms. These could be relationships that we know are not healthy. They may be habits that enslave us. They can be ambitions that consume our time and energy. It can be bitterness and resentment that we refuse to let go of. It may simply be our carefully crafted plans and agendas that we cling to even when God calls us to something different.
Ecclesiasticus reminds us of a profound truth: “What can a dead person praise God if he no longer exists?” This rhetorical question points to a vital spiritual reality – sin makes us spiritually dead, unable to truly praise God. Repentance, on the other hand, brings us back to life, restores our capacity for praise and gratitude.
Jesus, observing the rich young man’s sadness as he walks away, makes an observation that should shake us: “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God!” And to emphasize the point, he adds: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”
The disciples are astonished, and rightly so. In the Jewish mindset of the time, wealth was often seen as a sign of God’s blessing. If even those blessed with riches have difficulty entering the Kingdom, they ask themselves, “who can be saved?”
Jesus’ response is both challenging and hopeful: “With men this is impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible.”
This, my brothers and sisters, is the good news we need to hear today. By ourselves, we cannot free ourselves from our attachments. By ourselves, we cannot bring about the radical transformation that the Gospel demands. But what is impossible for us is possible for God.
Think for a moment about the metaphor of the camel and the needle. The image is deliberately absurd, impossible. Jesus is telling us that without God’s transforming grace, we cannot enter the Kingdom. But with God, even this impossibility becomes possible.
The Ecclesiastic gives us practical guidance on how to cooperate with this transforming grace: “Return to the Lord and abandon sin, pray in his presence and lessen your offenses. Return to the Most High and turn away from injustice, intensely hate what he abhors.”
This is a call to concrete action, not just good feelings or vague intentions. Returning to the Lord means changing direction, abandoning paths that we know are contrary to God’s will. Praying in His presence means seeking a real and intimate relationship with Him, not just performing religious rituals. Hating what God abhors means aligning our values with His, even when it goes against the cultural currents that surround us.
But perhaps Ecclesiasticus’s most powerful advice is this: “Acknowledge the justice and judgments of God… do not remain in the error of the wicked; before death, praise God.” In other words, don’t delay your conversion. Don’t assume you have unlimited time to respond to God’s call. Now is the time, today is the day of salvation.
The rich young man in the Gospel went away sad. The text does not tell us whether he eventually reconsidered, whether at some later point he found the courage to abandon his possessions and follow Jesus. His story remains a warning to us – the danger of delaying, of negotiating, of trying to find an easier path that does not require the complete surrender that Jesus asks for.
My brothers and sisters, Jesus looks at each of us today with the same look of love that he gave to the rich young man. He sees beyond our facades, beyond our achievements and failures, to the core of who we are. And with love, He invites us: “Come and follow me.”
May we have the courage to honestly examine what prevents us from fully responding to this invitation. May we, with God’s grace, free ourselves from any attachment that keeps us trapped in spiritual mediocrity. And may we experience the liberating joy of surrendering all to Christ, confident in the promise that what seems impossible to us is possible to God.
As we approach the Eucharistic table today, let us remember that Jesus not only calls us to follow Him – He gives us Himself as food for the journey. In the bread and wine, we receive the grace that enables us to do what, in our own strength, we could never accomplish: abandon everything to follow Christ.
May the Lord, in His infinite mercy, give us the courage to respond to His call today, without delay, without reservations, with hearts overflowing with love and gratitude. Amen.
