Reflections for Sunday
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 12, 2003
As Jesus was setting out on the road, a man ran up to him and knelt before him and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus looked on him with love and said, "You are lacking one thing. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor. Then you will have a treasure in heaven. And then come and follow me."
But the man was disappointed when he heard this, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.Mark 10: 17-21
Preparing for Eternal Life
When I am at my best, in rare moments of deep faith, I hope for only one thing - to someday look upon the face of God. Faith tells me that nothing in this world can compare with what awaits me in heaven, when I will finally see God face to face, and feel his love, and be with him forever.
But most of the time I am so preoccupied with the cares of this life that I hardly think about eternal life. I am so busy with my everyday tasks and concerns, so taken up with pursuing my own interests, so distracted by the pace and demands of my world, that I put aside for the most part the question of what I must do to reach eternal life.
But if I do not come to terms with this question, everything else will have been for nothing. All my hopes and efforts, my successes and disappointments, my joys and sorrows, in fact my whole life, will have meant nothing if I am not someday with God. He created me for himself, so that he could love me for all eternity. My life has no other purpose than to be with him and be filled with his love. If I become so absorbed in this life that I do not prepare for eternity, I will miss the whole purpose for which I was created.
I cannot escape from the world and its many burdens and worries. But I must journey through it guided by faith, or else I will become lost. If I wish to arrive safely at the end of my journey, then I must set my hope on eternal life. I must let go of all that encumbers me, and every day strive for the self-emptying that will prepare me to receive the love of God in eternity.
Lord God, I long to see your face. Enkindle in me the fire of your love. Enliven me with hope, guide me on the way, and bring me to the joy of eternal life with you.