In today’s readings, we are invited to look deeply into what eternal life truly is. At its heart, heaven is not simply a reward or a place of rest—it is a relationship of love and communion with God.
In the first reading from the Book of Judges, we hear of Israel’s repeated cycle of falling away from God. Time and again, they abandoned the Lord who had saved them, chasing after false gods and worldly idols. And yet, in their distress, when they cried out, the Lord raised up judges to deliver them. This pattern reveals something important: God does not just want to rescue His people from trouble—He desires that they remain with Him in a living, faithful relationship. But Israel struggled, because their hearts were divided. They wanted the benefits of God’s help, without giving Him the loyalty of their love, allowing selfishness and self-centeredness to corrupt their minds and hearts.
This theme carries into the Gospel. The young man approaches Jesus sincerely, asking, “What must I do to gain eternal life?” Notice how he frames it: he sees eternal life as something to be earned, a checklist to be completed, and he is not concerned so much about how others are to obtain the same: What must I do? Not what must we do? Jesus first points him to the commandments, which the young man has already kept. But then, Jesus offers something deeper, something relational: “Come, follow me.” This is the essence of heaven—not rules for their own sake, but a living, personal relationship with God in Christ where we are always extending our gaze beyond ourselves and to an “other”.
The young man, however, goes away sad, because his heart is still bound to his possessions. He wanted eternal life, but like us, was still attached to the temporal, transient and frivolous possessions of this world.
Finally, what these two readings teach us is that heaven is not about fulfilling external duties or chasing blessings. Heaven is about communion—being united to God in love. Just as Israel fell when they tried to live apart from Him, and just as the young man could not let go of what kept him from following Jesus, so too we are reminded that eternal life is not a thing to be gained, but a relationship to be lived, starting in the here and now. It is a relationship which will naturally (or supernaturally may be more apropos) see us leaving certain things, transient things, secondary things, useless and especially sinful things behind.
And here is the good news: God desires this relationship even more than we do. He takes pity on us, as He did with Israel. He looks at us with love, as He did with the young man. And He continues to call us: “Come, follow me.”
Let us then commit to the love for God we know is within us, and allow it to be more manifest in our concrete every day way of life. Let us allow it to shine through in our loving actions towards others – simple acts of kindness and generosity, which are the hallmarks of a soul on fire with love for God.
Most Merciful Mother, help us to love God authentically and faithfully more and more. Amen.
Amen.
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