The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 19:16-22
A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
Reflection:
What do we still lack in our lives? What are our true riches? We need to recognize what we treasure most. Is it wealth, power, status, control, or pride? Or is it peace, comfort, family, friends, church, and of course your faith? This Gospel calls us to surrender. Jesus asks us to let go—not as a miserable loss, but as an exchange: trading temporary earthly security for eternal treasure and the joy of following Him even now while we are here on earth.
I enjoy exploring different kinds of music on Spotify. Recently, I heard a song by a group called “May the Lord Studio,” and its words stopped me in my tracks. They made me reflect on myself and my faith. Later that day, I wondered if I was meant to hear those words so I could share them with you.
“What if Peter saw the water and decided to stay in the boat that night.
What if Mary heard the Angel and said; This cost me way too much?
What if God has been asking you for something, you keep saying that you “TRUST”?
What if the giant isn’t Goliath, but the giant is your FEAR?
What if the prison isn’t made of iron, but of the chains you CHOOSE?”
What if we have said “NO” to Jesus’ request. This scripture passage is asking us to surrender and to live our life as what it’s meant to be. Sure, it’s hard to live that life when we live in this world of chaos. It’s hard to have faith and believe when I just laid to rest two close people in my life, and they passed two days apart. Coincidently the funerals were two days apart as well. Am I challenged to Trust and to have Faith? Absolutely! Do I grieve? Absolutely! But do I Trust? ABSOLUTELY. I have to PAUSE and reach way down into the foundation of my soul, which is faith, and place this journey in God’s hands.
You see, my sisters and brothers, we create the “Giant”, we create the obstacles, we create this Fear in our lives and are afraid to approach it. But the truth is that the only way you will overcome fear is by facing it. We need to walk right into this storm. Yes, we choose to walk around in this “Spiritual Prison” and we choose to walk around with the chains that are slowing us down. As you walk around aimlessly in this darkness and are not sure about your faith then you are avoiding the truth. Until, one day, when you are walking in this darkness, you bump into something and you feel the embrace of warmth and freedom. You look up, and it’s Jesus.
Action of the Day:
PAUSE, take some real time over the next day or so and ask yourself these questions. What are your riches? What really makes you feel right? What brings you true Joy? What is it that you need to surrender?
Audio Reflection:
