Monday – 8th Week in Ordinary Time C

In the first reading from Sirach, we are reminded of God's immense mercy towards those who repent. This too is an offer of infinite worth, for what could have atoned for our sins aside from the Blood of the Son of God? The invitation to go to confession, is an invitation to partake in the mercy Jesus alone could win for us. The author emphasizes that God encourages those who repent of their sins with the assurance that their sins will be forgiven and offers them the road of truth and goodness as a continual evolution of that initial repentance. This message of mercy and redemption is foundational to our faith. It reminds us that no matter what lays in our past, God is always inviting us to return to Him in the present. The call to “turn again to the Most High and away from your sin” resonates throughout scripture as God consistently waits for us to choose Him above all else, but as soon as possible, avoiding the procrastination which saddens God who mercifully awaits our return with eagerness.

This theme culminates in the Gospel of Mark, where we encounter the story of the rich young man. He approaches Jesus with the sincere desire to inherit eternal life. His life appears commendable; he has kept the commandments from his youth. Yet, Jesus, looking at him with love, identifies the one thing that stands in the way of his true happiness: his attachment to his possessions. “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor,” Jesus instructs, “and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come, follow me.” Although the young man’s query is a noble one which seeks eternal paradise, it is also incomplete. A question which would have captured the essence of heaven would have been, “Good Master, what must I do to be with God, forever, in paradise?” In failing to base his desire on the essence of heaven, which is our union with God, Jesus brings him back to this realization of the importance of seeing heaven in terms of relationships, by asking the young man to not only renounce his earthly possessions for the good of the poor, but to then follow Jesus, because to be with Jesus, IS paradise. We often miss that, and it is so important. On the cross, Jesus said to the good thief, “Truly, truly, I tell you, today you will be WITH ME, in paradise.”

The rich young man found it very difficult to make the leap of faith, and let there be no question, it is a leap of faith to leave the world behind you and live sacrificially for our Lord and his people, for if God is not in any way a part of that equation, it spells out only misery and disillusionment. But the man or woman who desires to leave the world behind, only does so if there is a strong conviction that God exists, and he desires us to choose him above all else in a loving relationship, where he forgives our sins and beckons us onwards to our eternal home. Paradise is a home. It is family. And what would you not do for family, or to save a loved one from death. Jesus wants to save us from eternal death, what scripture calls, “the second death”… eternal misery in hell with Satan and his fallen angels become demons.

Our hearts are for the Lord, and if sometimes a doubt creeps up, in you who have chosen him above all else, that’s okay, even the apostles went through the same, but our Lord accompanied them nevertheless. He will do the same for you and me, and he is so proud of you, for courageously choosing him above all else. We too can become saints, if we but cooperate with his grace and continue to grow in our love for him. He can’t love us more than he already does at every moment of the day, but we, of course, can grow in deepening our love for him, by seeking, doing, and loving his holy and divine will above all else. How do we do that exactly? Let our Blessed Mother answer that: “Do as Jesus tells you.” Herein lies the secret to a happy and fulfilled life here on earth, and an eternity of bliss and joy with him, and that’s always the important thing to remember about heaven, that it’s because souls there will be with him, in heaven. May our Lady, Star of the Sea, bring us home through the storms raging in our hearts, where wealth tempts us and so do the fleeting material goods of this world, to choose something infinitely less than our Lord, God of Hosts. Amen.