The Gospel for Monday of the 20th week in Ordinary Time is taken from Matthew 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’ve 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.

What I love about this passage is the way in which Jesus gently works with him, in a sense by saying, look, it’s not about doing, it’s about what I want you to become. And so he uses a rather radical statement, obviously, give up everything you have and give it to the poor. And he walked away sad. It’s so interesting. The sadness is about not understanding, being confused. Jesus makes it so clear that when we understand him fully, we’ll understand that the key to the whole thing is allowing God to create a new person in us, the real person, the true person.

And that’s what he wants for us to possess our own identity, our own character. He wants us to be authentic. Please ponder the meaning of these scriptures. And after the music, I will close with a prayer. The closing prayer. Father, you look at us.

You long for us to become who you want us to be. Instruments of love, instruments of peace and unity. Yet we do get caught up so much in doing the right thing. But it’s becoming. Bless us with an awareness of this, and let us put ourselves in a disposition of receiving what it takes to be authentic. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.