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:
A businessman
was on his deathbed, being his last moment in this world, his wife and all of
his children were there. Seeing them all he suddenly had a worried face and
said: why are you all here? Who’s tending the business? He was in the throes of
death, yet his mind was still fixated on his material wealth.
What must we
do to inherit eternal life? Jesus tells us to follow the commandments and sell
what we have and give the proceeds to the poor and follow Him. This is how
Saint Francis of Asisi lived his life. He was the son of a rich merchant but he
disowned all of his inheritance he instead chose to help the poor. He lived a
life of simplicity and poverty relying more on God’s providence than on this
world.
There are
people who are overly concerned with their material wealth as if they can bring
it to their grave. Some are even willing to sell their soul to the devil just
to be rich. We should not invest on these things for all these are temporary
and it could be taken from us anytime.
We should
rather focus more on God rather than on this world. We should help those who
are in need and steadfastly follow Christ. Nothing is wrong with being rich for
as long as we don’t make riches our God and this we can do best by sharing it.
Let us always remember that we are just stewards of the things that we have. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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