21 August 2023 - Only By Grace Reflections

First Reading: Judges 2: 11-19
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 106: 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44
Alleluia: Matthew 5: 3
Gospel: Matthew 19: 16-22

God in His goodness made today’s gospel to help people like me who are having difficulties in LETTING GO. In Matthew 19:16-22 we find a young man who asked Jesus “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” After Jesus basically responded that he needs to follow God’s commandments, the young man continued “I have followed all the commandments, what do I still lack?” to which Jesus said, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, then follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Clearly he was not yet ready to LET GO. He was not ready for to follow Christ unconditionally. He was not able to follow the example of the disciples who left everything to be with Jesus. Before we think that this gospel does not particularly concern us because we do not see ourselves as among the rich, we should listen to what Jesus is really saying. He touched on the one thing that the man was not ready to give up, his money and all that it brought. Just like the young man, we all have some things we would be very slow to LET GO off.

It might be a good exercise today for us to ask ourselves what would be the most difficult thing for us to LET GO if Jesus asked us to do so. It might be something we own like our house, or it might be a relationship, or our job, or our health. Whatever it is, it could be something that could come between us and our total following of Jesus. For me it would be LETTING GO of my mom. My mom has been a central figure in my life, she has been responsible for introducing me to my faith. My fear of losing her could become a stumbling block