(Optional Memorial for Saint Bede the
Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church)
(Optional Memorial for Saint Gregory VII,
Pope, Religious)
(Optional Memorial for Saint Mary
Magdalene De' Pazzi, Virgin)
Memorial Day is celebrated in
the United States; Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice may be
used.
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| “Christ and the Young Rich Man” by Heinrich Hofmann,1889 |
Reading 1: Sirach
17:20-24 [4]
To the penitent God provides
a way back,
he encourages those who are
losing hope
and has chosen for them the
lot of truth.
Return to him and give up
sin,
pray to the LORD and make
your offenses few.
Turn again to the Most High and
away from your sin,
hate intensely what he
loathes,
and know the justice and
judgments of God,
Stand firm in the way set
before you,
in prayer to the Most High
God.
Who in the nether world can
glorify the Most High
in place of the living who
offer their praise?
Dwell no longer in the error
of the ungodly,
but offer your praise before
death.
No more can the dead give
praise
than those who have never
lived;
You who are alive and well
shall praise and glorify God
in his mercies.
How great the mercy of the
LORD,
his forgiveness of those who
return to him!
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Commentary on Sir 17:20-24
The first part of this moral teaching from Sirach (in antiquity
called “Wisdom of the Son of Sirach and in the Middle Ages Ecclesiastes (or Ecclesiasticus)
first deals with penitence. God always
invites us back. All that is necessary
is to love what God loves.
The second section asks for conversion or a return to God. Here the author says the dead cannot
intercede for those who do not turn away from sin. We also hear how God’s mercy flows to those
who do return from a sinful past.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R. (11a) Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Blessed is he whose fault is
taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the
LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no
guile.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Then I acknowledged my sin to
you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults
to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt
of my sin.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
For this shall every faithful
man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
You are my shelter; from
distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom
you will ring me round.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps
32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
Psalm 32 is an individual hymn of thanksgiving. The psalmist sings a song of gratitude that
the Almighty Father has pardoned his sins (which were freely confessed). In spite of these blemishes, salvation is
heaped upon the repentant.
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Gospel: Mark
10:17-27
As Jesus was setting out on a
journey, a man ran up,
knelt down before him, and
asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do
to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “Why do
you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not kill;
you shall not commit
adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false
witness;
you shall not defraud;
honor your father and
your mother.”
He replied and said to him,
“Teacher, all of these I have
observed from my youth.”
Jesus, looking at him, loved him
and said to him,
“You are lacking in one
thing.
Go, sell what you have, and
give to the poor
and you will have treasure in
heaven; then come, follow me.”
At that statement, his face
fell,
and he went away sad, for he
had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said
to his disciples,
“How hard it is for those who
have wealth
to enter the Kingdom of God
The disciples were amazed at
his words.
So Jesus again said to them
in reply,
“Children, how hard it is to
enter the Kingdom
of God
It is easier for a camel to
pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to
enter the Kingdom
of God
They were exceedingly
astonished and said among themselves,
“Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and
said,
“For men it is impossible,
but not for God.
All things are possible for
God.”
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Commentary on Mk
10:17-27
The
story of the rich young man presented today in St. Mark’s Gospel is an ideal
teaching moment for Christ. Clearly the young man
depicted is of Pharisaic persuasion since he believes in concept of eternal
life (Sadducees would not). After he has heard that the young man has
carefully followed Mosaic Law (summarized in the Decalogue the Lord mentions),
Jesus tells the young man he has only one more step to take. Selling all he has
and giving the proceeds to the poor is too much for the rich young man who
leaves downcast.
Jesus
uses this example to emphasize first that the love of God must come first and
before desire for possessions, before the accumulation of wealth. Those
listening were also down hearted and say “Then who can
be saved?”
Jesus
then makes his second point. No one earns salvation from God! Only the Lord
alone can grant it and nothing is impossible for Him. “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for
God.” God must provide the path.
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Reflection:
The
Good News offers us a way home if we have fallen or have moved away from the
Lord. There is a God billboard in our
region of the country that says; “If you fell God is far away, who moved?” It fits today’s scripture.
In
Sirach we are told that the path to God is open for those who have fallen into
sin or have denied the Lord. The opening
line is an invitation (that sounds like it came out of an Indiana Jones movie)
“To the penitent God provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing
hope and has chosen for them the lot of truth.”
From the oldest times God has provided a way to return if we fail.
We
are told that to return we must first want to return. Actually, if we think about it, that is the
major hurdle we must cross. If we want
something, say a new car or a pair of shoes, our behavior supports that
desire. We save money for the car; we
look into offerings by various dealers or stores. We do our homework so that we achieve what we
want. The larger the item or the goal
the longer it takes to achieve it and the more discipline in our behavior. We see how goals can come into conflict in
the Gospel story. The rich young man wants
exactly what we do and finds the barrier in himself. The Lord tells him to remove the things in
his life more important to him than God, his material possessions, and he (the
young man) cannot do it.
When
Jesus turns to his disciples after the young man leaves, he explains that, to
those who place their wealth first in their lives, the Kingdom of God
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture is “Christ and the Young Rich Man” by Heinrich Hofmann,1889
[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]
The Biblical Citation used is incorrect at USCCB (and repeated here) Correct is Sirach 17:24-28 in the NAB
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