DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY:
THE RICH YOUNG MAN (Mt 19:16–22).

Gospel of Monday, 20th week in Ordinary time
Mt 19:16-22

A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Matthew(with permission)

• The Vulgate and other translations, supported by a good many Greek codexes, fill this verse out by saying, “One alone is good, God”.
• 20-22 “What do I still lack?”
  • The young man kept the commandments that were necessary for salvation. But there is more.
  • This is why our Lord replies, “if you would be perfect . . . “, that is to say, if you want to acquire what is still lacking to you. Jesus is giving him an additional calling: “Come, follow me”: he is showing that he wants him to follow him more closely, and therefore he requires him, as he does others (cf. Mt 4:19-22), to give up anything that might hinder his full dedication to the Kingdom of God.
• The scene ends rather pathetically: the young man goes away sad. His attachment to his property prevails over Jesus’ affectionate invitation.
  • Here is sadness of the kind that stems from cowardice, from failure to respond to God’s calling with personal commitment.
• In reporting this episode, the evangelists are actually giving us a case-study, which describes a situation and formulates a law, a case-study of specific divine vocation to devote oneself to God’s service and the service of all men.
  • This young man has become a symbol of the kind of Christian whose mediocrity and shortsightedness prevent him from turning his life into a generous, fruitful self-giving to the service of God and neighbour.
  • What would this young man have become, had he been generous enough to respond to God’s call? A great apostle, surely.
• Christian poverty and renunciation
  • 24-26 By drawing this comparison Jesus shows that it is simply not possible for people who put their heart on worldly things to obtain a share in the Kingdom of God.
    • “With God all things are possible”: that is, with God’s grace man can be brave and generous enough to use wealth to promote the service of God and man. This is why St Matthew, in chapter 5, specifies that the poor in spirit are blessed (Mt 5:3).

VIDEO COMMENTARY

TOPIC 1: DO YOUR POSSESSIONS POSSESS YOU?

In today’s gospel reading, a young man asks Jesus what it would take for him to be assured of eternal life. Jesus points him to the second half of the ten commandments that focuses on relationships. He, apparently, has been a good person, having kept the commandments. But he presses on, restless and seeking something more. And he gets the surprise of his life. Jesus tells him to sell all and give everything to the poor.

Indeed, we can relate. While some people are called to literally sell all their possessions and give them away, for most of us, we are asked to a different, albeit, similar radical interior calling.

TOPIC 2: Do you give to the poor only to gain favors, acceptance, control over them, and public praise?

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