WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father. In

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the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of

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the Holy Spirit. Amen. We've all been in those

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situations in which someone was trying to get

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our attention, and we were sort of oblivious

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to it. It's happened to me so many times as a

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priest. Someone's trying to get a hold of me,

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tell me something, and I'm just off somewhere

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else. The Lord, our God, is continually, continually

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looking for our attention. So, we in the church,

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we have these gospel readings every week. They're

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meant for each one of us. The Lord is speaking

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to each of you, to you and me personally. Before

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we read the gospel, We sing Alleluia. That's

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a song of praise. That's a song of glorification

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of God. That means the Lord is present. Before

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you receive communion, we sing the communion

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verse. The choir is singing Alleluia. Again,

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it's to remind us, to tell us, the Lord is here.

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Wisdom, stand aright. You hear these Gospels,

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it's... Christ speaking to us. God's not silent.

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Not only is he speaking to us in nature and through

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other people, but here, especially in the liturgy,

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he's speaking to us. He's trying to get our attention.

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So it occurs to me to ask myself, why over the

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last month or so did we hear a reading about

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Lazarus and the rich man? The rich man who abused

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his riches. And that's all he could see. Not

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this poor man. Why do we have the foolish rich

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man who didn't bother building the temple in

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his heart but thought he was going to build bigger

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and bigger barns to put all his things in and

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eat and drink and be merry. But his soul was

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required of him that very night. He abused his

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wealth. And today we have... A rich young leader

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of the community who comes and his wealth prevents

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him from drawing near to God. Now, I ask myself,

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are these readings for wealthy people? Because

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the Lord is giving these teachings not to wealthy

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people. Not then and not there. And here, in

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our context, he's speaking to me. But how? How

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am I supposed to respond to this? He's trying

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to get my attention. Well, let's look at this

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story very briefly. Rich young leader of the

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community. Sincere. One of the saints says, he's

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sincere. He comes to Christ. He wants advice

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from this particular rabbi, from that particular

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rabbi, and then from Jesus. He's heard things.

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He's looking for advice. You know, people might

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come to me in confession for spiritual advice.

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And I'll say, well, let's think of this. Have

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you tried this? What about this? Well, try these

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prayers. Do these prayers. Whatever. You know,

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prepare yourself in this way. Is that what Jesus

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does? The man comes to Jesus and he says, oh,

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good master. And immediately Jesus tries to change

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the approach from, I'm not your local rabbi giving

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you advice. What should I do to inherit eternal

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life? And Jesus says, well, you know. You know.

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You're a pious young man. Why are you asking

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me? That's really what's in between the lines

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here. Why are you asking me? And he says, these

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five of the Ten Commandments, Jesus says, all

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having to do with behavior and interaction with

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other people. Do not commit adultery. Well, that's

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good. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear

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false witness. Honor your father and your mother.

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And you know what the man says. Oh, I've done

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those. Done those from my youth. Well, first

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off, he was a teenager at one point, so probably

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he's not telling the entire truth. He couldn't

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have done them all all the time. No slam to our

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teenagers. Jesus heard these things. You lack

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one more thing. Jesus isn't saying, try this.

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This might be the way forward for you. He says

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something completely without any kind of confusion

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at all. You know, in our church, we hear so many

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things. We hear wonderful words. We hear the

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story of the prodigal son and the loving father

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who receives him back. No comment. He just takes

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him and embraces him. He's waiting for him. He

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runs to meet him. The love of God is there. That's

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the truth of things. We hear about Christ and

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the sinful woman who comes and pours out the

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precious myrrh upon him and shows her deep love

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for the Lord. We hear about the woman caught

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in adultery and Christ says, I don't judge you

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either. We hear about the healings and God's

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compassion over and over. And how Jesus, it says

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in St. Luke says, Jesus felt deep compassion.

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He wept when he saw the grave of his friend Lazarus.

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But we also have things that leave us without

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any doubt. The separation of the sheep and the

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goats. We have no doubt about... That if we judge

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someone, we will be judged with the same measure

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that we judge them. And then we have these teachings.

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You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have.

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Distribute to the poor. And you will have treasure

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in heaven. And come, follow me. And he was sad

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because he was very rich. He could not give up

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any of his things. He, imagine now, imagine.

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So he goes away. Now, the scriptures don't psychologize.

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They don't go into these details. But we might.

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He goes away. And his friend says, well, what

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did the rabbi say? Well, he said, for me to sell

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everything, follow him, just give it all away.

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And obviously, I can't do that. I have responsibilities.

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I have things I need to take care of, you know.

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And then, this is chapter 18 of the Gospel of

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Luke. Pretty soon, next day almost, Jesus comes

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into Jerusalem on the donkey. And the crowds

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acclaim him. And the man... that decided not

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to follow Jesus, what's he thinking? Oh, I made

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a mistake. And then a few days later, he sees

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this rabbi arrested, put on trial, and crucified,

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and die, and buried. And he thinks, I guess I

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didn't make a mistake. Did the right thing there.

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Dodged a bullet. And then the Lord rises from

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the dead. And he comes to the upper room where

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his disciples are afraid. And he says, peace

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be to you. What this man missed is beyond anything

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you can think of. To have the Lord Jesus Christ

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come to you and say, peace be to you. Be not

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afraid. Even as the Father sent me, even so send

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I you. And his disciples become apostles, though

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sent out. This man asked the question, what do

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I do to inherit eternal life? What does Jesus

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say in that prayer that the apostles heard on

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the night he was betrayed and arrested? Jesus

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is praying to the Father. He says, And this is

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eternal life. To know thee, the only true God,

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and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. We could

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read this gospel in two ways. We could say, well,

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Jesus is just telling this particular man what

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to do. Because his riches got in the way of his

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life. Or we could say, Jesus is talking to me.

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I can't meet that bar. I can't jump over that

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bar. I can't meet that standard. I can't give

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everything away. I can't just follow you, Lord.

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What does Jesus say? Well, the apostles say first,

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who can be saved then? We can't do that either.

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And they say, we've left everything, but who

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can be saved? Let's remember this, brothers and

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sisters. Whatever Jesus is calling you to specifically,

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brother and sister in Christ, it may be not possible,

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but with God it is. So we repent. We repent that

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we cannot keep this rule of the Lord. He's not

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speaking to just rich people. This isn't a slam

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on the rich. This is telling us, if we're wealthy,

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how to be stewards of our wealth and not slaves

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of our wealth. So we repent. We try our best.

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We say, with God, it's possible. I want to be

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with the Lord. The Lord is inviting this man.

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to be in love with him, to love God, to experience

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the glory, the grace, the peace. Yes, the crucifixion,

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but also the transfiguration and the resurrection.

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And so we follow the Lord. We know that according

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to the standards of the world, what Christ is

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calling us to is not possible because of our

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sins and our fear. Shame or hesitation. So we

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repent. We say, Lord, with you, I'm coming. To

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our Lord be glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.

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Amen.