Thoughts on eternal life

 

Mark 10:17-30 (or 10:17-27)

Friends, in today’s Gospel, a rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. There is something absolutely right about the young man, something spiritually alive, and that is his deep desire to share in everlasting life. He knows what he wants, and he knows where to find it.  Jesus responds to his wonderful and spiritually alive question by enumerating many of the Commandments. The young man takes this in and replies, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” So Jesus looks at him with love and says, “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor . . .  then come, follow me.”  God is nothing but love, straight through, and therefore the life of friendship with him, in the richest sense, is a life of total love, self-forgetting love. Jesus senses that this young man is ready for the high adventure of the spiritual life: he is asking the right question and he is properly prepared. But at this point the young man tragically balks. The spiritual life, at the highest pitch, is about giving your life away, and this is why the many possessions are a problem. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on gratitude

 

Deciding to be Grateful

Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an “accident,” but a divine choice. It is important to realize how often we have had chances to be grateful and have not used them. When someone is kind to us, when an event turns out well, when a problem is solved, a relationship restored, a wound haealed, there are very concrete reasons to offer thanks: be it with words, with flowers, with a letter, a card, a phone call, or just a gesture of affection. . . . Every time we decide to be grateful it will be easier to see new things to be grateful for. Gratitude begets gratitude, just as love begets love. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on possessions

   Rich Young Man

   Sunday's Gospel from St. Mark tells of Jesus' encounter with the young man who comes to him seeking reassurance that he's o.k. and has his priorities in order and will deserve eternal life. The Jews of Jesus' day, much like many Americans, believed that if God loved you, you would be healthy, wealthy and easy on the eyes. He qualified and was faithful to the commandments. Jesus looked at him with love and then challenged his attachment to all of his possessions. There's nothing wrong with having lots of good things, many are clearly God's gifts, but they don't define us or give us our identity and value. I'm reminded of the old observation: "You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer."

   

We never hear about this young man again but I'm sure that he never forgot how he felt when Jesus looked at him with love. Possessions don't last but love does and Jesus' love transforms us and makes us into His followers. As Jesus tells Peter, "All things are possible for God."

Fr. Ralph Huse, S.J.

Thoughts on pain

 

Befriend Your Pain

I want to say to you that most of our brokenness cannot be simply taken away. It’s there. And the deepest pain that you and I suffer is often the pain that stays with us all our lives. It cannot be simply solved, fixed, done away with. . . . What are we then told to do with that pain, with that brokenness, that anguish, that agony that continually rises up in our heart? We are called to embrace it, to befriend it. To not just push it away . . . to walk right over it, to ignore it. No, to embrace it, to befriend it, and say that is my pain and I claim my pain as the way God is willing to show me his love. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on social conventions

 

Luke 10:38-42

Friends, today’s Gospel is the story of Martha and Mary. I’d like to offer a fresh take on this famous little story. One of the principal marks of Jesus’ teaching and ministry is the overturning of social conventions. And one of the most striking and surprising of Jesus’ moves was a radical inclusion of women.  While this typically women’s work was going on, men would sit out in the main room of the residence and talk. If a prominent rabbi or Pharisee were present, the men would sit at his feet and listen to his words.  Now we can see why Mary’s attitude was so offensive to Martha and probably to everyone else in the room. Martha wasn’t simply mad that Mary was giving her more work to do; she was mad that Mary had the gall to assume the stance of a man, to take up her position in the men’s space. In his response to Martha’s complaint, Jesus signals more than a preference for listening over acting; he invites a woman into full participation in the life of discipleship. “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on belonging

 

The Joy of Belonging

We have heard the story of the encounter between Jesus and Mary of Magdala, two people who love each other. Jesus says, “Mary.” She recognizes him and says, “ ‘Rabboni,’ ” which means Master” (John 20:16). This simple and deeply moving story brings me in touch with my fear as well as my desire to be known. . . . Often I am tempted to think that I am loved only as I remain partially unknown. I fear that the love I receive is conditional and then say to myself, “If they really knew me, they would not love me.” But when Jesus calls Mary by name he speaks to her entire being. She realizes that the One who knows her most deeply is not moving away from her, but is coming to her offering her his unconditional love. . . . Mary feels at once fully known and fully loved. The division between what she feels safe to show and what she does not dare to reveal no longer exists. She is fully seen and she knows that the eyes that see her are the eyes of forgiveness, mercy, love, and unconditional acceptance. . . . What a joy to be fully known and fully loved at the same time! It is the joy of belonging through Jesus to God and being fully safe and fully free. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on unconditional love

 

God’s First Love

Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely to announce and reveal that God is love and only love, and that every time fear, isolation, or despair begin to invade the human soul this is not something that comes from God. This sounds very simple and maybe even trite, but very few people know that they are loved without any conditions or limits.  This unconditional and unlimited love is what the evangelist John calls God’s first love. “Let us love,” he says, “because God loved us first” (1 John 4:19). The love that often leaves us doubtful, frustrated, angry, and resentful is the second love, that is to say, the affirmation, affection, sympathy, encouragement, and support we receive from our parents, teachers, spouses, and friends. We all know how limited, broken, and very fragile that love is. Behind the many expressions of this second love there is always the chance of rejection, withdrawal, punishment, blackmail, violence, and even hatred. . . . The radical good news is that the second love is only a broken reflection of the first love and that the first love is offered to us by a God in whom there are no shadows. Jesus’ heart is the incarnation of the shadow-free first love of God. Henri Nouwen