Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 143
Reading I
Wisdom 7:7-11
I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
R. (14) Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Reading II
Hebrews 4:12-13
Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.
Alleluia
Matthew 5:3
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mark 10:17-30 or 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 human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God."
Peter began to say to him,
"We have given up everything and followed you."
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."
OR:
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 human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”
Reflection 1
Catholic Daily Reflections
Exceedingly Astonished
“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 human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Mark 10:24–27
Have you ever been “exceedingly astonished” by the demands of the Christian life? Hopefully you have been. And if you have been, hopefully you are no longer. Being exceedingly astonished is one of many purifications we must go through in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
The “eye of a needle” is a reference to one of the gates in the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem. After dark, the gate would be closed and the only way to enter was through a small door in the center of that gate. A person could pass through by ducking down, but a camel could not enter unless it got down on the ground and literally crawled through. This took much effort and direction from the master of that camel, but it was possible.
The point of this story is to emphasize that we will not be able to easily stroll into Heaven. In this case, Jesus was speaking about how easy it is for a person with money to become so attached to that money that they fail to obtain the riches of Heaven. The rich young man, to whom Jesus was just speaking, went away sad because Jesus lovingly invited him to detach from his earthly wealth so as to obtain the riches of Heaven. Jesus said to him, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” To that, the rich young man went away sad.
Greed and an all-consuming attachment to material wealth clearly have the potential to destroy your soul. That’s a fact. There is no way around it. But this teaching applies to every other form of attachment also. When we are attached to any sin to a serious degree and refuse to separate ourselves from that sin, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, if love of God does not motivate us to turn from sin, perhaps fear of hell will.
When the disciples witnessed this rich young man preferring his wealth over Heaven, and then Jesus standing His ground and making it clear that it is very hard to make it to Heaven, their astonishment would have challenged them personally. But that is good. It is good because it reveals that they were also convicted of their own unholy attachments and their astonishment arose from a holy fear within. As they saw the rich young man walk away, they would have thought about those things that they also held onto that needed to be purged from their lives. “Astonishment” in this case is the holy realization that they needed to change. The good news, however, is that when a person does change and becomes freed from the attachments that keep them from God, then they will no longer have any attachment that will lead them to be astonished at God’s demands. The ultimate goal is to overcome the astonishment caused by the demands of discipleship so that conformity to these demands becomes a way of life.
Reflect, today, upon anything that our Lord has taught that is difficult for you to face. Is there any commandment that you tend to ignore? Any teaching that you attempt to rationalize? Any demand that appears to you to be too much? If you are to enter the eye of the needle, you must be wholeheartedly committed. Jesus will not shy away from demanding a total surrender of your life to Him. Reflect upon those attachments that you continue to hold onto and try to see Jesus speaking to you about those attachments as He spoke to this rich young man. Overcome all astonishment and make unwavering submission to the will of God your way of life. This is the only way to enter the gates of the Kingdom of God.
Reflection 2
One Bread, One Body
“ONE THING”
“There is one thing more you must do.” —Mark 10:21
In today’s Gospel passage, a rich man asked what he must do to share in eternal life (Mk 10:17). He had done much, but Jesus told him to do “one thing more” (Mk 10:21). That was the one thing standing between himself and the eternal life he desired. That one thing more was to sell what he possessed, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow Jesus (Mk 10:21). This the rich man could not do and he “went away sad” (Mk 10:22).
Through His Word, God has given us much wisdom (Wis 7:7-11) to know what our one thing might be. It behooves us, then, to be grounded in the Word of God. God’s Word is alive (Heb 4:12). The Word convicts us (Heb 4:12-13) and brings constantly to our mind that one thing more God wants us to yield to Him.
Mary of Bethany found the one thing Jesus wanted her to do: to sit at His feet and listen to His Word (see Lk 10:39). Jesus approved Mary’s action and confirmed it by saying: “one thing only is required” (Lk 10:42).
“One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate His temple” (Ps 27:4). Give Jesus that one thing that separates you from following Him completely.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, take not just one thing from me, but take everything. Give me only Your love and Your grace.
Promise: “All gold, in view of [Wisdom], is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.” —Wisdom 7:9
Praise: Risen Jesus, praise be to You, my God and my All.
Reflection 3
Shared from God's Word
In his Apostolic Letter Vertatis Splendor, Pope Saint John Paul II notes four layers of truth hidden in Jesus’ answer to the rich young man: a) All goodness comes from God, the ultimate truth. b) Obedience to God’s Commandments is a powerful way to arrive at this truth. c) Attachment to wealth can be a major hurdle in arriving at this truth. d) Jesus is the self-manifestation of God, the ultimate truth. The rich man went away sorrowful because he could not overcome the hurdle of wealth. Peter, another rich man, who had left everything for Jesus, was also seeking something else. Jesus promises him a hundredfold of what he had left, provided he had genuinely detached himself from them. What am I searching for in life? Am I ready to pay the price for the ultimate truth? What hurdles do I face in my way of arriving at my goal?
Prayers
Most demanding Lord, Your invitation to discipleship is an invitation to surrender every sinful attachment over to You so as to be freed of those sins. You ask and demand of me everything, dear Lord. May I accept Your demands of holy love and respond generously, holding nothing back, so that I can share in the riches of the Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.
Lord Jesus, you have captured our hearts and opened to us the treasures of heaven. May you always be my treasure and delight and may nothing else keep me from giving you my all.
Daily Reflections on Divine Mercy
Reflection 286: Humility, Purity & the Love of God
What is it that is most dear to the heart of our Blessed Mother? If she were to appear to you and offer you her greatest desire for you, what would it be? Perhaps there would be some specific need that she has been made aware of by God for your life, but in addition to this she would most certainly call you to the virtues of humility, purity and love of God. We especially see these holy virtues alive in her life. Our Blessed Mother was humble in many ways. She was The Immaculate Conception, freed from all sin and the most glorious creation of God, yet while on Earth she was hidden and even thought to be a sinner on account of Jesus being conceived before she was married. However, she lived perfect purity in her life which was the source of her most perfect love for Jesus, Joseph and everyone else she encountered. Her purity enabled her to love others with the utmost dignity and respect. Her love of God was also perfect in every way and was made manifest by her total submission to His holy Will. She said, “Let it be done to me according to Your Will.” She meant that and lived it. Allow this witness of our Blessed Mother to call you to embrace these holy virtues so as to imitate and share in her glory and holiness (See Diary #1415).
Reflect upon these three virtues in your life. How well do you manifest them? Think about how they would have been lived in the life of our Blessed Mother and seek her powerful intercession so that you may imitate these virtues which she lived to perfection.
Dearest Mother, I gaze upon your beauty and upon the virtues that radiate from your life. I especially rejoice in your humility, purity and love of God. Help me to imitate these virtues in my own life so that I may imitate your beauty and holiness. Mother Mary, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
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