What must I do to inherit eternal life?

I would be glad to have the rich young man in today’s Gospel account as a parishioner of St Joseph’s.  What we know about him he kept the commandments.  He was a good rule keeper.  He was in Church every Sunday.  He contributed to the support of the parish and to the CMA as well.  He probably would volunteer to serve on the parish council.  From a pastor’s point of view, what is there not to like about him?

He knelt before the Lord and asked the right question:  “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Hopefully that is our question to the Lord in prayer as well.  Jesus looked on him with great love and said there is one thing you lack.  “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor and then come, follow me.”  Wow!  Talk about being asked to get outside your comfort zone.

I invite you to see if you can make an honest connection with a couple of questions that are not so nearly demanding as the Lord was with the rich young man.

Could it be true that we prefer to watch an hour’s television rather than pray for ten minutes?  Do we sometimes find it easier to travel between cities to watch a football game than to travel a couple of miles to go to Church?  Do we easily spend $50 in a restaurant rather than putting $20 in the collection basket? 

 

In asking that, l certainly am not talking about bad people.  In all truth, I easily spend more time watching television and being on the internet than I am praying. I ask these questions because we are all searching for our right relationship with God.

We all need to ask the question the rich young man asked of Jesus.  What must I do to inherit eternal life?  The rich young man in the Gospel has a leg up on many of us as answered the Lord by saying he has kept all the commandments. I am very impressed by anyone who gets A plus in keeping the ten commandments.

How do we answer that question when the Lord tells us:  “You are lacking in one thing.  Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have a treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.”

This challenges us to ask our relationship with God.  What is the real treasure of your life?  What is the North Star for you that everything else is seen in relationship to it?

So what is your treasure?  We all have our treasures - what's yours? It's a serious question. What is your treasure? What do you give your time, your energy, your love to mostly?

Your treasure may your good reputation, your beautiful family, the job you are very successful at, your golf game, the buffalo bills or the fighting Irish of Notre Dame, your hard earned assets.

In the Gospel, the man with many possessions wasn’t able to let go of them in order to follow Jesus more completely.  I need to ask myself: what possessions do I cling to? 

What is my tipping point in terms of prayer?  What is my limit?  Is it the hour for Sunday Eucharist?  Does that happen 52 weeks a year?  How much time each day do I commit to prayer?

What is my tipping in sharing with those in need == whether in parish ministry or responding to people in need anywhere?  How much time am I willing to share to be of service to others?

What is my tipping in terms of treasure?  What percentage of income do I tithe?  What is my comfort zone in this regard? 

Does the use of our time, energy and resources indicate what are the important relationships of our lives?

The Gospel lesson is clear. Our relationship with God must be our greatest, our prime relationship, the one which gives meaning to all our other relationships. If it is not so for us we doom ourselves to go hungrily seeking for substitutes which invariably disappoint - a succession of dashed hopes and new infatuations, leaving us empty and cynical. When we come to think of it, our relationship with God is the one thing we take with us into the next life - all else will be left behind. Shouldn't we cultivate it while we can?

The invitation and challenge is clear. Jesus is asking each one of us to give priority to God in our lives and to get rid of all that we love more than him, everything which prevents us from saying yes to his wonderful invitation: and then: come follow me.

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