Jesus, Looking At Him, Loved Him

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

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.  Mark 10:20-22

Piety

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  1 Peter 1:3-7

Study

Can you handle the truth?  Give up your treasure and you will have treasure. Sounds counter-intuitive.  Jesus almost sounds like a Zen Master delivering a koan to a doting student. Yet Christianity is a faith of seeming contradictions.  

“The cross is a symbol of death and of life, of suffering and of joy, of defeat and of victory. It’s the cross that shows us the way.  It will always remain very hard for us to embrace our suffering, trusting that it will lead to new life.” Henri Nouwen

The young man tried to butter up Jesus with flattery.  Oh, Good Teacher!  Jesus rejects the endearing term “good” and gives that attribute only to God.  He follows up those words with words that also repudiate him being good. He provides a stiff prescription for attaining heaven.  However, before the prescription, Jesus looks at the young man and loves him.

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.” Packed into these two sentences are five commandments.

• Go.  Attaining friendship with Jesus is not something you get by hanging onto Him or by sitting at His feet.  Or by sitting in a pew with your rosary beads.  Or by sitting in a First World school, or office, or your own den or Man-Cave.  We must take our love for Jesus out into the world: From the Seminary to the Sanctuary, from the sanctuary to the streets. 
• Sell. Get rid of anything that ties you down to your comfortable way of life – especially anything of material value.  You can sell it and give away the proceeds or give it away directly to the poor who need the material goods more than you do. 
• Give. If you sell your worldly goods, give away the proceeds to serve the poor.  
• Come. Only when you are not tied down can you be free to come back to Jesus.  Like the old 1960’s poster, if you love something, set it free.  Jesus loves us and sets us free to blaze a trail back to him. 
• Follow.  Thus freed, you are now at liberty to pick up your cross daily and follow Jesus. 

Action

Following Jesus leads right back to the first command:  “Go!”  To truly follow Jesus, we have to consider carefully the words of St. Ignatius Loyola:  “Go forth and set the world on fire.” You cannot do that sitting at the Master’s feet or in a pew. Just when you get to Park Place and Boardwalk, you have to pass go and, always, begin again. As you go, Jesus, looking at you, loves you, too.