Commentary on the Gospel of
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B - "COME AND FOLLOW ME".
Today's Gospel text is one of the most demanding and complex of Jesus' message. "How eagerly Jesus looked at this young man who came to him, attracted by his good nature, in search of something to quench the thirst for the infinite that his soul was feeling. Jesus looked at him with hope and joy, expecting him to say: "Master, where do you live, because I want to go with you? But he didn't, and went away sad because he realised that he was like most people, a slave to the comfortable lifestyle he had. What a pity, because he missed the best opportunity of his life, the opportunity to be an apostle of Jesus.
Jesus also passes through our lives; and what a pity if we ignore his gentle invitation to follow him. We let him pass by in vain, and all because we have not known how to cut through the little things that, in time, end up disappearing. "Follow me" is the word that Jesus addressed to those he wanted to associate with his work. The disciples, leaving everything, followed him. And this without any pressure or coercion. Because he always shows us the respect and the freedom that his call imposes on us to accept or not the grace of vocation, but when we do not follow his invitation, we may not be able to avoid sadness.
Listening to this Gospel, one realises that "the rich young man" was the only failure of Jesus in his calls, because the lust for money impoverishes the heart and distances us from God, which is the cause of this young man's cowardice: "wealth". The Lord does not say that it is bad, but he warns that it is dangerous, in the sense that it can prevent us from being open to the good things of the Kingdom. How difficult it is for those who put their trust in money to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a straw than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. "
The Christian in general, and the consecrated person in particular, is a follower of Christ, a fighter, a servant for the Kingdom.
Lord, you are our joy, you are our hope, you are our consolation, you are everything for us.
(Psalm 89) Satisfy us with your mercy, Lord, and our whole life will be joy.
HAPPY SUNDAY TO ALL!
