Mark 10:17-27; 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The rich man presumed that inheriting eternal life could be totally in his control, like it was all up to him. He must have been familiar with being in control. First, he claimed he had complied with all the commandments from his youth. I presume not just the 10 Commandments, but also the 613 civil, criminal, ritual and family rules pursuant to the 10, all of which had religious ramifications. Second, he was rich. Caesar owned all lands in Israel. But he leased them to the Jewish aristocrats he trusted and profited from. So, this man must have been very chummy with Rome. However, if you were a really devout Jew (which the man claimed he was), you dealt with Romans very cautiously. They were Gentiles. Impure. Self-respecting Jews wouldn’t even enter any enclosure w/ Caesar’s statue in it. They even scruple when touching Roman coins bearing Caesar’s head! But this man had navigated religion and business so well, he was onto his next exploit: eternal life.

This reminds me of Fr. Nico, our former Superior General. When he retired, he decided to come live with us in Arrupe House with all its discomforts for an aging man, rather than go back to first-world Japan where he belonged. (Some of you met him and had lunch with him.) You saw what a lovely, funny, humble lolo Fr. Nico was, despite his stature and all his accomplishments. Now that was a holy man. You could not describe how or why. With holy people, you just feel it. It so happened that I once heard someone say out loud: “I want to be holy like Fr. Nico.” The boldness was almost unnerving. Like the man in today’s Gospel, this was a wealthy, well-connected, and very in-control person, with much time spent empowering the poor, raising funds for priests, helping endow church foundations. A good, driven person. But the “I want to be holy like Fr. Nico” gave me pause. I wasn’t sure if holiness was something you declared to want to achieve. From what I’ve noticed, holy people don’t even know they strike us as holy. You never hear them say they want to be holy. In fact, holy people even think of themselves as the worst sinners in the world! Jesus himself says, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.” I guess we may desire holiness as we may desire eternal life. But to sound as if either were a project to pursue, an honor to vie for, a privilege to earn, a fund to raise, a foundation to endow? Parang may mali. It sounded off.

Like the rich man was off. He was so accustomed to getting what he wanted, he thought he could get at eternal life by making the “necessary arrangements,” making the “reservations” today. Whereupon Jesus said, “Sell all you have, give to the poor and follow me.” Long pause. Open mouth. Disbelief. Thought bubble? “In what universe could something so prized be gained through vulnerability and not control, through insecurity and not certitude, through poverty and not plenty?” Good question. But not to be answered in one sitting. The man would really have to follow Jesus around to understand that eternal life was freely bestowed by God, and not something we pre-entitled ourselves on earth. Like holiness, eternal life isn’t transactional. It’s pure gift.

I once gave our Ateneo custodians a retreat. I tell you, kapag pinag-usapan na nila ang kanilang mga problema sa buhay…. But one kuya’s comment hit me the hardest. “Siguro, Pader, mas madali talagang magpakabuti ‘pag mayaman ka. Pwede ka nang gumawa na lang nang gumawa ng kabutihan, kasi wala ka na gaanong inaalala.” (It must be easier for the wealthy to be good people, he pondered out loud. They don’t have much to worry about. They could spend most of their life just doing good things for others.)

Jesus looked at the wealthy but presumptuous man with love. I’m sure he gazed just as lovingly at this struggling, overworked, underpaid kuya who really wished he could do more for God and for neighbor, if only he weren’t saddled with so little, just enought to keep his family alive. I remember that conversation and feel a certain guilt. Because instead of Jesus telling me to sell all I have and follow him, he says to us, instead, “I have given you everything that you need and much more besides, so you can follow me.”

So, we pray, sisters and brothers, to use all God’s gifts for others. As much as we can, we help especially those who bear so much on their shoulders. We won’t do it to ambition to inherit eternal life, or to be holy like Fr. Nico, no. We do it because Jesus spent his life doing it. To the rich man then and to us now, Jesus says, “Follow me.”

*image from the Internet