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| “Allegory of Wealth” by Simon Vouet, 1630-35 |
Reading 1: Ezekiel 24:15-23
The word of the Lord came to me:
Son of man, by a sudden blow
I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes,
but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.
Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead,
bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet,
do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
That evening my wife died,
and the next morning I did as I had been commanded.
Then the people asked me, “Will you not tell us what all these
things
that you are doing mean for us?”
I therefore spoke to the people that morning, saying to them:
Thus the word of the Lord came to me:
Say to the house of Israel
Thus says the Lord God:
I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride,
the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul.
The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel shall be a sign for you:
all that he did you shall do when it happens.
Thus you shall know that I am the Lord.
You shall do as I have done,
not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread.
Your turbans shall remain on your heads, your sandals on your
feet.
You shall not mourn or weep,
but you shall rot away because of your sins and groan one to
another.
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Commentary
on Ez 24:15-23
Ezekiel becomes a sign, and is given a metaphor of the fall of Jerusalem Jerusalem
From a theological perspective the last verse provides recourse –
sins un-reconciled will cause the death (rot) of the soul. It is only through reconciliation with God that
life and peace are possible.
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Responsorial
Psalm: Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20,
21
R. (see 18a) You have forgotten God
who gave you birth.
You were unmindful of the Rock that
begot you.
You forgot the God who gave you birth.
When the Lord saw this, he was filled
with loathing
and anger toward his sons and daughters.
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“I will hide my face from them,” he
said,
“and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
“Since they have provoked me with their
‘no-god’
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’;
with a foolish nation I will anger
them.”
R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.
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Commentary on Dt 32:18-19, 20, 21
This passage from Deuteronomy is part of the “Song of Moses”. In this selection the warning against
forgetting God (the Rock on which they were founded) is issued. If they turn from God, God’s grace is no
longer with them (“I will hide my face
from them”) and they become “no-people”
to Him.
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Gospel: Matthew 19:16-22
A
young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher,
what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He
answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There
is only One who is good.
If
you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He
asked him, “Which ones?”
And
Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you
shall not commit adultery;
you
shall not steal;
you
shall not bear false witness;
honor
your father and your mother;
and
you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The
young man said to him,
“All
of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus
said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell
what you have and give to the poor,
and
you will have treasure in heaven.
Then
come, follow me.”
When
the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for
he had many possessions.
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Commentary on Mt19:16-22
Jesus’
encounter with the rich young man is also captured in Mark
10:17-31. In St.
Matthew’s account the young man asks Jesus what “good” he must do to attain
“eternal life” (equivalent to entering into life or being saved as used in
other parts of St. Matthew’s Gospel – see Matthew
19:17 and Matthew
16:25). Following
the Lord’s grammatical clarification (“There is only One who is good” a
statement implying only God possesses the ability to act without sin –
completely good.) the young man asks which commandments he must follow.
“The first five commandments
cited are from the Decalogue (see Exodus
20:12-16; Deuteronomy
5:16-20). Matthew omits Mark's
"you shall not defraud" (Matthew
10:19; see Deuteronomy 24:14) and adds Leviticus
19:18. This combination of
commandments of the Decalogue with Leviticus
19:18 is partially the same as Paul's
enumeration of the demands of Christian morality in Romans
13:9.”[4]
The Lord’s concluding remarks
tell the Christian community that wealth can be a barrier to achieving eternal
life. This thought is continued in
verses 23-30.
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Reflection:
Have you ever thought when
looking back at your recent past “I have done very well in God’s eyes.” or “I
am on the right path.” or “I’m pretty sure God will be happy with me.”? We
probably all have at some point. We certainly try to please God with our
actions and even if we are very good at humility, there are probably times when
we feel pride at what we have done in the Lord’s name. These are the times when
we should hear the Lord’s chiding voice “There
is only one who is good.”
This is not meant by Jesus to
be discouraging. The young man in the story admitted that he came to Jesus with
a pretty clean slate – “All of these I
have observed.” We can almost hear the pride in his answer (pretty bold
considering Jesus had just told him “There
is only One who is good.”). So the Lord sees into the young man. Jesus sees
deeply into the young man’s heart and understands he has done his very best to
follow Mosaic Law, including the Decalogue and the “Great Commandment” from
Leviticus he had just quoted. But there is one flaw and it is significant.
The young man is of the
privileged class with wealth and position (lest we think this is an impossible
obstacle, look at all the Saints who have come from the same kind of background
and given it all up to follow the Lord – perhaps the most famous being St.
Francis of Assisi.) Jesus, probably with deep compassion, answers the question
the young man should not have asked; “What do I still lack?” The Lord answers
and tells the young man that he must do what his disciples have done – give up
all that holds them to the secular world and follow Jesus.
What a great lesson for all
of us who strive to follow the Lord. About the time we start feeling like we
have made it, we should remember that question in our prayer; “What do I still
lack?” Listen carefully to the Lord’s answer and we will find such a long way
still to go. We take that message to heart today. Worldly values are still at
war with us, striving to command all our attention. We listen to the Lord’s
call above that din – “If you wish to be
perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture used today is “Allegory of Wealth” by Simon Vouet, 1630-35
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB note on Matthew 18-19
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