In yesterday’s Gospel passage from St. Mark, we heard of the rich man who goes away sad after his encounter with Jesus. He had asked the Lord what it takes to inherit eternal life, and the Lord instructed the rich man to go and sell his possessions and follow him.
Due to his unwillingness to detach from his possessions, the rich man departs from Jesus, not with the joy of discipleship, but with sadness. There is always sadness when we are unwilling to follow where Jesus beckons.
In reaction to the rich man woefully departing from the presence of Jesus, Peter chimes in: “well, we have left everything to follow you.”
Have you Peter? Have you really? The more I read the Gospel of Mark, the more I’m convinced that we should be a little suspicious whenever Peter speaks. For with that question, it seems Peter is all too enthused to attempt to draw a contrast between him and the rich man, a little like the Pharisee, who says, thank goodness I’m not like that tax collector of there, “I’m holy, I’m enlightened.” Meanwhile, it was the tax collector who was not far from the kingdom because he acknowledged his sinfulness.
Peter, don’t you know that you can’t fool Jesus? The Lord can see into your heart and right through your antics?
Knowing that Peter could use a bit of humility and self-reflection, the Lord responds to Peter by explaining what it means to really follow him: his disciples are to give up “house and brother and sister, mother and father, children and lands for his sake and the sake of the Gospel.” Our possessions, our inheritances, our most intimate familial relations, even our own lives, are to be subordinate to doing the will of God and our Gospel mission.
We know that conversion hadn’t really taken root, that Peter was not fully abandoned to the will of God, as in just a few chapter we’ll find Peter denying his Lord.
Now we shouldn’t give Peter too hard a time, for the Gospel narrative is an unfolding drama, an unfolding of the revelation of who Jesus is, fully revealed in his death and resurrection.
For we know that Peter, after resurrection embraces true discipleship wholeheartedly. He suffers for the Lord, and dies for his Lord, but not before writing the powerful words from our first reading: “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely grace”…above all “seek holiness”, not compliance with your former way of life, your former attachments, but above all holiness.
During the holy season of Lent beginning tomorrow, may our Lenten penances aid us in acknowledging this parts of our lives where we have failed to follow the Lord. May we be assisted in living soberly, abandoned to grace, seeking above all holiness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
For “an immediate end to the hostilities in Ukraine, for a restoration of peace and for the safety of all Ukrainian citizens. And for the Ukrainian community in Northeast Ohio, that their friends and family members in their beloved homeland be kept out of harm’s way.”
That the upcoming season of Lent may be a time of profound renewal for our parish and the Church as we engage in the penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
For the conversion of those who reject the Gospel, for grace to break through to hearts hardened toward God, for the protection of young people from the errors and perversions of our culture.
For those who struggle because of addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, inclement weather, or ongoing trials of any kind.
For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith, we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.
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