Gospel: March 3, 2025
March 3, 2025 (Monday)
8th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 (Green/White)
St. Katharine Drexel, virgin
Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
1st Reading: Sirach 17:20-24
Gospel: Mark 10:17-27
Just as Jesus was setting out on his journey again, a man ran up, knelt before him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the Commandments: Do not kill; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not cheat; honor your father and mother.” The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.” Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him; and he said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have, and give the money to the poor; and you will have riches in heaven. Then, come, and follow me.” On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”
Reflection:
“The Lord knows our weaknesses.”
The rich man in the Gospel is not a bad man. He has kept the Commandments and he is longing for heaven, but there is something holding him back. Jesus looks “steadily at him,” and with divine love he looks deep into the man’s heart. Nothing is hidden from him. As it says in Sirach, “all their sins are before the Lord.” The Lord knows our weaknesses, our faults and our failings. He knows the aspects of our lives that are not in keeping with our call to holiness. Jesus knows that the man’s virtue is imperfect, and with love, he invites the man to give up that which is pulling him away from God. “Go, sell what you have, and give the money to the poor… Then, come, and follow me.” For the man, his riches have become so important, that he relies on them more than God. For this reason, he goes away sad, because he can’t separate himself from them. This Gospel encounter is not a command for all of us to give up our possessions, but to think about what is lacking in our commitment to the Lord. What is holding me back?
