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Gospel Reading for March 3, 2025 – Mark 10: 17-27
ARE ALL GIVEN
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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What would make us want to keep and even gain more riches? There are those of us who are never gratified with material wealth. Their lives are spent on endlessly making their pockets full of money as if it were the most important thing in life, as if it defined them. Perhaps, the person used to be very poor and is afraid to become poor again? Perhaps, he/she gets a certain sense of security and confidence from amassing wealth? Perhaps, he/she was once looked down upon by relatives and want to show them what he/she has made of him/herself? There must be so many reasons, but are the reasons worth what one loses in the end?
In Luke 12: 16-21, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man who had very fertile land and harvest and had bigger storage houses built so he could store more, and then be able to relax, drink and be merry. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared? So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich in his relationship toward God.”
Perhaps, we do not realize that we cannot bring our riches to the next life. If we have too much of them, it will even make our load on the road to eternal life, very heavy. If we wish to not carry a heavy load so we may reach our destination, we have to unload them to someone who is in bad need of them: people who have so little or almost nothing to eat, people who are sick and are unable to get proper medical care, etc.. There are so many of them who will make our load light on the road to eternity.
Perhaps, we have to remember that all we have comes from God. For us Christians, there is no such thing as being a self-made person . We cannot make ourselves. Everything we have are given: our brains, our talents, our strength, or good health ARE ALL GIVEN.
Lord Jesus, help us remember that we may lose our life on earth in an instant, hence, every instant of our life is very important to use for the benefit of humankind!
