28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Mark 10:17-30)
From generation to generation the type and style of material goods and possessions can change greatly. What was considered wealth and luxury hundreds of years ago would hardly satisfy the least materialistic of our present generation. Even today there are many people who have great wealth and many possessions, but are not at all attached to them while there are some who are extremely attached to the very few material things they own. Detachment in the religious sense of the word does not depend on quantity or quality but on where our possessions come on the scale of priority in relation to our attitudes toward God, our fellow human beings and our respect for life and the world around us. Our greatest riches are the gifts of the Spirit and the Faith, Hope and Love which are so integral to our spiritual wellbeing. The young man who approached Jesus looking for ‘that something else’ which would have completed his ‘happiness’ was a very wealthy man by the standards of the time. It seems that he was very attached to whatever he possessed. While he wanted the ‘eternal life’ promised by Jesus to all who became his disciples, he also wanted all the pleasure that worldly life could provide, He was out of touch with the possibilities of a relationship with the Lord and an inner life of peace, joy and contentment.
When he shows respect and deference to Jesus by calling him ‘Good Master’ is he trying to flatter Jesus in order to receive special treatment? Does he think that he can ‘have it both ways’? Jesus is quick to show that flattery will not impress him. Together they examine the life of the young man and it is impressive. He is a good living man but he is too attached to his wealth and his way of life. His piety seems to be shallow and the flattery of Jesus was indeed hollow.
Jesus is not asking us to turn our back on the good things in our lives, he is not expecting that we can live without the gifts of the earth, the rewards of our work or the generosity of others. But Jesus does expect that his faithful disciples will always put him first in their lives.