Today’s readings: Wisdom 7, 7-11; Hebrews 4, 12-13; Mark 10, 17-30.

The Gospel story of the man who ran up to Jesus asking what to do to inherit eternal life can be very significant on two levels. This man may be taken as representing each and every one of us in our honest search to be good; but he may also represent the rich West constantly seeking to come to terms with the ever widening gap between rich and poor in our globalised world.

In his book The Eye of the Needle, Jon Sobrino, renowned Jesuit priest and theologian of liberation, writes that “salvation is fresh air, which the spirit can breathe in its movement towards the human (honesty, compassion, solidarity, openness to some form of transcendence) as against what is dehumanising (selfishness, cruelty, individualism, arrogance, blunt positivism).

It cannot be denied that wealth is a great obstacle to Christian liberty. Again Sobrino writes that “the idea of having more as a condition for being more is a diabolical temptation”. Jesus in this story is addressing this temptation and proposes as a remedy his idea of radical discipleship. But radicalism always poses serious problems, particularly to conventional Christians who, in a culture like ours, learn to be complacent with all sorts of injustice and whose religious education makes them think that the minimum suffices.

The minimum here means the observance of the decalogue. Jesus challenges a rich man who, in spite of being pious and good-hearted, nonetheless finds it hard to become a disciple. By what he asked of the rich man, Jesus seemed to disturb his peace. Even Peter, a staunch follower, ends up being confused.

What is so disturbing about discipleship? The first reading sets the context to answer this question. Wisdom is to be esteemed “more than sceptres and thrones” and all gold compared with it “is a pinch of sand”.

The Word of God here speaks of priorities, and of whatever in life can be alienating and can obstruct or even destroy our freedom. Outside the spiritual perspective, it remains very hard to understand the logic of this theme.

The story of the rich man shows that we can be Christian without being spiritual. To this man Jesus adds: “There is one thing you lack”. The man’s problem, which actually brought him sadness, was that he was not free.

The call to be a disciple is about becoming an adult in faith, which guarantees internal freedom. It is said that you lose your freedom the moment you become posessed by your possessions. The great mystics of the Christian tradition give us rich lessons about this freedom from possessions which in turn results in deep internal freedom.

The second reading from Hebrews says that “the Word of God can judge the secret emotions and thoughts”. It tells the whole truth about us even if it hurts. Many a time we lack the right perspective and continue to make choices that bring disharmony in our very being.

We need the wisdom not to remain locked and blocked inside ourselves. The void that results from this closure can be terrible. It is the sheer foolishness which at times takes hold of our lives to the extent that we become possessed even by what we do not have. Jesus is speaking about the possibility of a different form of existence.

What happens in the physical life with material possessions, happens also in the spiritual life and in the realm of relationships. Because there is unity in the depth of our being and Jesus’ major concern is our being fully human. Without this freedom and fullness, it is as if life is seen from a prison cell, too condi­tioned and distorted. It gives the feeling of being enclosed in ourselves, of isolation and indivi­dualism, all ingredients to make life sad.

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