Jesus looked at him and loved him

Mark 10: 17 - 27

"One thing you lack, " he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Today, the church calendar moves back to "Ordinary Time". Last February 21st was the beginning of the season of Lent, a forty day journey towards Holy Week and Easter. With Easter Sunday we began another special season lasting seven weeks, during which we celebrated and entered more deeply into the central core of our faith - the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And yesterday, we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Indeed, we continue to pray for the Spirit to fill our hearts and kindle in them the fire of God's love.

"Ordinary Time" does not mean that we can relax and stop taking our faith seriously. In a sense, this is a most crucial time as we are as it were, sent to live out our faith in the ordinary places of our lives. We are not only to proclaim the good news but also be (live) the good news among all those around us. We are not just to be receivers of the word but also doers, impelled and empowered by the Spirit who lives within us.

It is easy for devoted Christians to identify with the rich man in this passage. He was certainly a person who was God fearing and devoted to following the religious 'rules'. He had kept the commandments since his youth, since as a boy, he came of age. But his religious endeavors have subtly led him to a dependence on himself. He possesses religious piety by following the rules (and thinks he can possess eternal life too) but he is possessed by his wealth. Jesus lovingly sees right through him and seeks to free him from his bondage to possessions whether religion or wealth. How many of us have not also been caught in this trap of beginning to 'possess' and even take pride in our religious endeavors? This is the trap that the evil one masquerading as an 'angel of light' would have us fall into. After all, we would not be as easily tempted to commit the obvious 'sins'. And so our strengths become our weaknesses....until the Lord lovingly and graciously challenges us. And we are reminded that the Kingdom is all about poverty of spirit. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

It is not so much about giving this up or that up, for that could still leave us prideful of our own successful religious efforts.

Can we stand 'naked' before the Lord, free of all our attachments, with nothing of which we can boast? That is freedom. Jesus looks at us with love, inviting us to that freedom. That is the way of the Kingdom. That is true spirituality. But like to rich man, we are also free to walk away.