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When we offer the riches of our time or talents to be Christ to a needy person, we are loving God.

Monday, August 18, 2003
Feria

First Reading:
Responsorial Psalm:
Gospel:

Judges 2:11-19
Psalm 106:34-37, 39-40, 43-44
Matthew 19:16-22

Have you begun to stop trying to defend your sins? Then you have made a beginning of righteousness!

-- St. Augustine

The following is, as usual, from The Word Among Us:

What do I still lack? (Matthew 19:20)

The young man who asked Jesus this question knew that there was something missing in his life. It was obvious that he sincerely wanted to please God, for he already kept the commandments. But Jesus knew that this seeker would never find the treasure he sought unless he learned detachment. So, he gently led the young man to a place he had not gone before. Had he accepted, this rich young man would have entered into the very heart of Jesus' teachings. But instead, he turned away.

Jesus' call to discipleship is a call to leave ourselves behind so that we can love God and other people. The call can seem quite threatening at first--to the point that we may be tempted to set limits on how far we will go in obeying the two great commandments. We may even try to preoccupy ourselves with devotions in a way that shields us from the need for active self-surrender.

Jesus invited the young man to sell his possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21). Doesn't this highlight the close connection between loving God and loving our neighbor? Indeed, the two are joined in an intimate way: When we fulfill Jesus' "new command" to love others as he loves us, we really do love God. "If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12).

Every day, we are blessed with many opportunities to put this radical love into action. When we go out of our way to be kind to the person who irritates us most, or to be patient with a trying child, we are "selling" what we have and following Jesus. When we offer the riches of our time or talents to be Christ to a needy person, we are loving God. This is the way to the perfection that Jesus tells all his followers to seek (Matthew 19:21). So, how will you respond today?

"Lord Jesus, all my security lies in you. Guide my actions and send me into the harvest filled with your love. May I know the power of your transforming Spirit."

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God bless.