Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time- B
The Gospel for the Twenty-eighth Sunday is pretty straightforward. A man ran up to Jesus, knelt, and asked him a question. He said, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” When we read the question, we might be tempted to focus on the ‘eternal life’ part and miss what comes before, “good teacher.”
Jesus responds to the man with a question before his answer about eternal life. “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” What can be inferred from Jesus’ response is that he knew that man did not consider him the Son of God but merely a learned teacher. What can also be gleaned from Jesus’ question and statement is that if God is the only one who is good, then every human being is incapable of being good enough to inherit eternal life.
Jesus obscurely informs the questioner that no one can obtain eternal life without God’s goodness, now embodied in the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. Christ later confirms our assumption when the disciples ask him who can inherit eternal life. Jesus tells them, “For human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
With this in mind, we turn to Jesus’ response to the unnamed man who asked him first about eternal life. Jesus answers that he must follow and obey the commandments. The man confirms that he has since youth, but the exchange continues. Looking at the man lovingly, he adds one more commandment. He tells the man he must sell all his possessions and give them to the poor, telling him he will have treasures in heaven. “At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”
The historical background of possessions is not dissimilar to what is experienced today. In the first century, good fortune and material possessions were believed to signify divine favor. It was thought that God uniquely blessed those with wealth and good health. Understanding this context, you can empathize with the man who went away sad because Jesus’ answer shattered his belief system. However, the man prematurely went away sad, as we shall see.
Some people throughout our tradition have the unique charism of selling all their possessions and giving them to the poor. These individuals include Elizabeth of Hungry, St. Katherine of Drexel, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and the mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. But not all are called to this life. Some need to provide for families and the elderly who need care, making it impossible to sell everything and give it to the poor. God does not expect everyone to live in poverty, for if he did, then his creative plan would be nonsense.
What is needed is a different way of understanding the mandate of giving our possessions away. The key to unlocking the problem is to focus on the notion of ‘gift.’ By centering our lives that all is gift, a new and helpful way of obeying Jesus’ commandment comes into focus.
Suppose the starting point is to shove away the clutter of self-made grandiosity and believe that acquired things, either through possessions or money, are gifts. We own nothing; death is the cruel teacher of that fact. Many are unable to accept but accept they must.
Once we realize all is a gift, those who need possessions to survive have obeyed the Lord’s commandment because they own nothing, nor are they the source of their good fortune. We often forget that when we recite the Our Father, we pray for our daily bread, acknowledging God’s benevolence and his gift.
Much like the man with many possessions, our gifts signify divine good. This is why we commented that man went away from Jesus too soon.
We are now more apt to comprehend what is needed for eternal life. First, we recognize that we depend entirely on the salvation Jesus Christ offers. We are not good enough; only God is good. Next, we must obey the commandments and partake of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Finally, we must give up the notion that we have possessions by realizing that all we have is a gift and a willingness to share those gifts with the poor and those in need.