In today’s readings, we see Jesus speaking to a young man about what it takes to get to Heaven. The young man apparently has lived a devout life, following all of the commandments for as long as he can remember. He feels in his heart though that something is missing so he asks Jesus “what more must I do?” Jesus says for him to sell everything he has and come and follow Him. Does that mean that you and I must sell everything we have, move into a desert, and live off whatever comes our way? For some of us, that may indeed be the answer.
What it does mean for everyone, though, is that we must go to Jesus and begin to discern through prayer and petition exactly what is standing in the way of holiness. Whatever is between us and a proper relationship with God must be pruned from our lives no matter how difficult or painful that may be. For one it might indeed be money and material possessions. For another, it might be video games or pornography. Yet another might need to stop hanging out with some people and to remove the near occasions of sin that lead them to inordinate desires or attractions. Each of us has some vice, some struggle, a thorn in the flesh that we must cut away and allow God’s grace to be sufficient for our needs.
This isn’t easy, and for most of us, it won’t happen overnight. It requires constant conversion, daily dying to self that we can come and follow Jesus. The question is, do we have the strength to do it? Prayer, fasting, almsgiving. These are our tools. We talk about them during Lent but they are powerful tools that should be used in the Christian life every single day of our earthly existence. They are the habits that combat our own concupiscence and allow us through self-sacrifice to bring out that image of God that resides in us, the reflection of Christ that is in our very nature. So today begin to look inside and find out what your own personal struggle is. Then choose to get rid of it, to sell it all, and go and follow Jesus. Pray about it. Fast from it. Give away the mercy, love, and yes material gains/savings to the poor. Cling to Jesus in the Sacraments, that’s what it means to come and follow Him.
A reflection on the readings for Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time: August 17th, 2020.