Gospel
MT 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.
Reflection
“Why do you ask me about the good?”…this line resonated with me as I read the Gospel. The young man was asking Jesus what good must he do to gain eternal life and that is what Jesus responded with. This made me think about how we often associate good with easy or the path of least resistance and that is just not the case when it comes to following Jesus. This is what I believe the young man was thinking when he asked Jesus that question. He was confident in his obedience to the commandments and saw himself as having completed a checklist to get eternal life, thinking what more should he have to do? Jesus went beyond this checklist of moral behaviors and invited the young man to a more radical transformation: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor... Then come, follow me.”
Jesus’ response reminds us that true goodness often requires sacrifice and discomfort. It’s not just about following rules, or checking off a list, it’s about letting go of what holds us back from fully following Christ. I think this story challenges us to examine our own lives—what are the possessions, whether material or emotional, that we cling to, preventing us from following Jesus fully?
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