Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 28, 2022
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.”
Reflection
I do not want to sell everything I have. I admit it—I like my possessions. They communicate my style and hobbies, and enable me to share enjoyable times with family and friends. For example, I like my whiskey collection. Maybe you like your fancy espresso machine or a favorite pair of shoes.
So why does Jesus call us to sell everything and follow him?
Jesus knows that even if we can’t see it, we need the sacrifice. Maybe, like me, you were raised within your faith tradition and have a lot of practice following the commandments and using the grace of the sacrament of reconciliation. We’ve done the basics for years and now Christ initiates the invitation to go to a deeper level. But choosing to go to that deeper level with him? That’s where things get tricky.
In today’s passage, Jesus looked at the man and “loved him” before he encouraged him to sell everything and follow him. If we do not feel or accept the love that Christ has for us, this passage will feel tough. Why would we want to go deeper into a relationship with Christ when we struggle to feel his love where we are?
We have to choose to accept the love of Christ.
As you go about your day today, give yourself the chance to feel the love of Jesus. It may feel strange at first. As someone who has the means to purchase most of life’s immediate creature comforts, I get it. It’s much easier to distract my need for God’s love with a dopamine hit from a phone or another favorite material possession. But if we choose to let Christ’s love into our lives, we will be transformed in ways we can never imagine.
Prayer
Christ our teacher, you call each of us to be free of the things that enslave us, and enter into true freedom as children of God. Open our hearts, that we may accept your invitation, “Come, follow me.” Give us the grace today to commit our whole selves more fully to you. Help us especially this day to overcome any attachments in our lives that prevent us from following you as fully as we can. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Hilary was pope for seven years in the fifth century and was known for safeguarding Church unity in a time of great disagreement.
He was born in Italy and served as an aide to Pope Leo I, who preceded him as pope and sent him on many official assignments. One of those assignments was to attend a council that was held in Ephesus without official approval. His task was to report on a heresy being discussed there—the denial of Christ’s humanity. This heresy was already condemned by an earlier council, and the followers of this erroneous belief physically attacked Hilary and his delegation. They barely escaped and returned to Rome.
When Pope Leo died, Hilary was elected bishop of Rome. As pope, he did much to strengthen the Church, especially in France and Spain. He was known for defending the rights of bishops, while urging them to greater faithfulness and less luxury. He established the pope, not the emperor, as the leader in spiritual matters, and rebuilt many churches in Rome, renovated the Lateran Basilica, and constructed a number of convents and libraries. He died on this date in 468, and his image is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Hilary, the pope who helped build the Church and fought for unity—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Hilary is available for use under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
