In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, we hear the story of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life, to which Jesus replies, “Keep the commandments.” The young man asks Christ which commandments, Christ names familiar ones, and the young man tells him he has kept them all since he was a boy. He asks Jesus, “What do I still lack?” Jesus tells him to give up his possessions, giving to the poor, and to follow him. He goes away sorrowful, choosing to cling to the security of his many possessions.
Fr. Gregory encourages us to be like the rich young ruler, asking what we still lack — how we can go beyond the minimum and pursue the perfection of love. When Christ calls us to take the next step — to give without fear, to detach our hearts from our possessions, to trust without compromise — he also strengthens us. At the end of the Gospel reading, Christ says that it will be very hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, and the apostles ask, “Who then can be saved?” Christ replies, “With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”
The young rich ruler’s story ends in sorrow, but ours need not. Christ stands before us too, offering the same invitation: “Come, follow me.” May we loosen our grip on the things of this world, trusting God with our possessions, future, and life. May we continually ask ourselves, “What do I still lack?,” taking the next step toward Christ and knowing that with him, all things are possible.
