Monday, August 21, 2023

 

Memorial of Saint Pius X, pope

(Judges 2:11-19; Matthew 19:16-22)

Today’s gospel gives the impression that one has to become a monk to inherit eternal life.  Indeed, St. Anthony of the desert, the epitome of hermit monks, did precisely what Jesus prescribes here.  But such a reading betrays the tradition of Christian spirituality.

Christians have always held that there are many ways to eternal life.  Not only monks and nuns are on their way to salvation.  A political leader like St. Louis of France became a saint as did the Italian doctor Gianna Beretta Molla.  Sanctity requires that one places God first and foremost and always treats others with love.

The young man of the gospel receives a literal calling from Jesus to sell everything and follow him.  He must respond to it or be lost.  He goes away sad because like the seed among thorns, he is strangled by his wealth.  However, he is not hopeless.  Perhaps in time he will reconsider the call and became a disciple.

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