Gospel: Mark
10:17-27
As Jesus
was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked
him “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered him,
“Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 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 defraud; honor
your father and your mother.” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of
these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus,
looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go,
sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.” At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
Jesus
looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have
wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! The disciples were amazed at his words. So
Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the
Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than
for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly
astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at
them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are
possible for God.”
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Reflection:
Who is this man in the gospel who walked away from his
desire to follow Jesus in favor of his treasures? We don’t know but we could
compare the attitude of this wealthy man to our own attitude when it comes to
wealth.
Many of us can’t give away our wealth so that it may
serve its real purpose none other than to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.
When the wealthy man walked away from Jesus he allowed himself to be possessed
by his love for his wealth. He was already at the threshold
of the real meaning of life yet he still chose to be possessed by the false
meaning of life which is accumulation and possession of wealth and power.
Many of us including our politicians allow ourselves
to be possessed by this false meaning of life. Which in the end will only
serve as our downfall and we become the object of ridicule because we allowed ourselves
to be possessed by our greed for wealth and power.
What will it do us if we have wealth yet we don’t have
peace of mind? What would wealth bring to our lives if we don’t have God? Nothing
but false sense of security, nothing but a life devoid of meaning and a life
of emptiness. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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