In the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
Glory forever. In today's gospel, this Sunday,
there is a reading about a rich young man. He
comes to find Jesus because he knows he's the
one to get spiritual advice from, to get instruction.
With a question. A question to ask the Lord.
A question to ask Jesus. And it is a very good
question. And it's one that you and I should
also be asking. And it is this. Good teacher,
what good thing shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? We all want. to inherit eternal
life. So what did he say? If you want to enter
into life, keep the commandments. And just to
be sure that he understood, this young man said,
which commandments? And Jesus replied, you shall
not murder, 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. In other words,
live a life of virtue, striving to do what is
right. So the rich young man replied, all these
things I have kept from my youth. That's not
something I could say. He's done exceptionally
well at keeping these commandments from his very
youngest days. Most of us would not be able to
say that. And yet, he knows there's something
still missing. Something is not quite right.
And so he says, all these things I have kept
from my youth. And he asks, what do I still lack?
Because he knows something is still missing.
He sought out Jesus because he knows that something
is not right. Jesus said to him, If you want
to be perfect, go sell what you have and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven,
and come follow me. But when the young man heard
that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had
great possessions. Well, in our own country's
history, we have a rags -to -riches life of many
people that have come to live the American dream,
and they've become very wealthy in worldly wealth.
One example of a person who became quite wealthy
was John D. Rockefeller, and he worked hard and
became a billionaire tycoon in the 1800s in our
country. And there's a famous story of a reporter
coming to him and asking him, how much money
is enough? How much money is enough? And he allegedly
replied, just a little more. And when we trust
in riches and we trust in the things of this
world, it will always be just a little more that
we need to feel safe. that we need to feel to
be secure. We should not trust in the things
of this world. Rockefeller at least understood
that, that if you trust in earthly wealth for
your security and well -being, they always will
come up a little short. And now for this rich
young ruler. Jesus told him to give it all away
and come and follow him. Why? Because Jesus saw
his heart, how his trust was in his riches, and
it blocked him from trusting God, from trusting
God completely. And the rich young man controlled
his own life. It was his life with his money.
And yet, to be wise, we need to know it is God's
money, and we need to follow God's commandments.
to move on from the riches of this world as our
foundation to the riches of heaven by having
Jesus as our leader. He said, come follow me.
So it was not the riches that were wrong, but
his heart trusting them more than God. That was
wrong for this rich young man. And Jesus called
him to give it all away. And what about you?
And what about me? And perhaps it's not riches
that trouble you. Perhaps there's something else
that you're prioritizing in your life higher
than doing God's will and following Christ. Perhaps
like the young ruler, you are ruling your life
and not letting Christ rule it. Instead of giving
it over to God, your creator, you are keeping
it for yourself. But no matter what the cause,
the answer, is the same. Get rid of whatever
is blocking you from putting God first, from
following our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ
with all your heart. What should we do to inherit
eternal life? That is the question, and it is
to follow Christ. Listen to the holy apostle
John, who says in John 3 .16, For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. It is Jesus who did
the work that brings us to salvation. We may
be able to follow, hopefully, as well as this
rich young man, the commandments that God gives
us to do. but we don't earn our salvation. It
is given to us by Christ in the work that he
did on the cross. We believe in Jesus, in the
Messiah, in the Savior of the world. We believe,
and that belief results in the actions of us
striving to do his commandments and to follow
him and to let him save us and to let him sanctify
us and to let us come to eternal life. All we
need to do is put God first in our lives to have
our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ directing
our paths on our way to heaven. St. Justin Popovich
writes this, Never forget that to believe in
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus means to carry
out a continuous fight with sins, with evil,
with death. If a man fights with sins and passions,
this demonstrates that he indeed believes in
the risen Lord. If he fights with them, he fights
for eternal life. If he does not fight, his faith
is in vain. If man's faith is not a fight for
immortality and eternity, then tell me what is
it? For the one who by faith in the risen Lord
fights with each of his sins, there will be affirmed
in him gradually the feeling that Christ is indeed
risen, has indeed vanquished the sting of sin,
has indeed vanquished death on all the fronts
of combat. But in order to be resurrected with
the Lord Christ, man must first suffer with him
and live his life as his own. And live Christ's
life. as his own. Just as it is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,
so our battle against sin can be difficult. But
let us find comfort and hope in the closing words
of Jesus in this Sunday's gospel reading. With
men this is impossible, but with God All things
are possible. Glory to Jesus Christ.