Sunday’s Gospel reading at Mass was about the rich, young man in Mark 10:17-30. I suspect that a lot of people, especially Americans, get a little uncomfortable with this passage, as well as they should.
Many forget that the second half of the reading presents Jesus with a teachable moment for his disciples to learn that wealth was not a reward from God for living a righteous life.
The verse that jumps out at me is: “Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him, and he said, ‘There is one thing you lack. …’” In other words, what is the one thing holding you back from entering the kingdom? What is the one thing each one of us must let go?
Maybe it is wealth? Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s something else? It depends on what you are attached to, the thing you put between God and yourself.
Maybe that guilty twinge many feel at hearing this passage is the devil whispering in their ear, distracting them from the one real thing that they need to let go.