Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 419
Reading 1
The word of the LORD came to me:
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, “Will you not tell us what all these things
that you are doing mean for us?”
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
Say to the house of Israel:
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to another.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing
and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“I will hide my face from them,” he said,
“and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’;
with a foolish nation I will anger them.”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.
Meditation
Beloved brothers and sisters,
A new day is dawning, and from the very beginning of this day, the Lord teaches us through His Word. Let us give thanks for this Word, which is truth and gives Life. In the Gospel passage on which we are meditating today, Jesus invites us to reflect on what we are willing to leave behind in order to follow Him.
We contemplate the attitude of a man who had many material possessions. He wanted to have eternal life and was looking for a way to attain it. However, when the Lord asked him to sell his possessions, he was unable to detach himself from them and went away very sad. This attitude is shared by many of us. We want to follow Christ.
We are even willing to make efforts, but we are unable to completely detach ourselves from everything that prevents us from following Him. We are attached to unhealthy relationships that lead us into the sin of impurity. We are attached to our material possessions and are unable to let go of them in order to practice charity. Beloved, the Lord calls us today to work towards our freedom—a true freedom of heart that enables us to leave everything behind in order to follow Christ.
Indeed, it is God who gives us every good thing. But everything He gives us must be used to serve Him and to serve our neighbours. Whenever our possessions draw us away from God or become gods to us, we must detach ourselves from them without hesitation. But to do this, as we have said, we need a detached heart. To have a detached heart means to possess things while living as though we did not possess them. The rich man presented to us in today’s Gospel had made his possessions his god. He could not live without them; they were at the centre of his life. That is why he was unable to sell them and follow Christ.
For us, brothers and sisters, it must not be this way. Only God should be at the centre of our lives. It does not suffice to simply keep the commandments. We should also strive to detach ourselves from everything. Our hearts must be free enough to follow the Lord. Christ, the perfect example whom every Christian must imitate, had a completely detached heart.
That is why He was able to leave His throne and the glory that made Him equal with God, becoming man in order to save the world. The only thing that should matter is what our Lord wants. If He wants me to leave an unhealthy relationship, I leave it. If He wants me to use my possessions to help those in need, I do so. This is the level of freedom we must seek.
Let us pray
Lord our God and Father, forgive us for our disordered attachments. Give us a completely free heart, capable of following Christ at all times, no matter what it may cost us.
Intercession
Lord Jesus, we pray for all those who have many material possessions. Give them Your Spirit of discernment, so that He may guide them towards the service You desire from them through these possessions, so that these things may never become their gods.
Mother Mary, pray for us.
Spiritual Exercise
Detach yourself from something that is dear to you in order to help someone in need.
Praised be Jesus Christ, forever!
Minette MIAFO
Community of the Disciples of the Living Christ
