A reflection on Monday of the twentieth week in Ordinary Time
You can find today’s readings here.
When the young man heard this, he went away sad.
for he had many possessions.
The struggles of the young man in today’s passage from Matthew are painfully relatable. He comes to Jesus with a sincere desire to follow Him and a longing to learn more about the commandments, about “the good,” about God. Yet after reciting several commandments that the young man has faithfully followed, Jesus comes to a final step that his would-be disciple must take to fully embrace Him: “Sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” This proves too far-fetched; the young man turns away from Jesus, unable to give up his earthly possessions.
What is Jesus calling us to leave behind? What “possessions” do we cling to, even though we know deep down that they create distance between us and God? St. Ignatius’ concept of “disordered attachments” provides additional clarity. For Ignatius, an attachment is disordered when a person places it above God or even allows it to become a barrier between themselves and God. In the First Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius writes:
“Man was created to praise, worship, and serve God… the other things on earth were created for man and to help him to achieve the end for which he was created. It follows that man should use them insofar as they help him to achieve his end, and get rid of them insofar as they hinder him from doing so.”
I often encounter such obstacles in my own life.
The biggest stumbling blocks in my relationship with Jesus are other “possessions”—not necessarily material things, but unhealthy attachments of the soul. How often do I neglect praying at the beginning or end of the day—whether it’s the exam, the rosary, or simply a few minutes of silent conversation with God—because my attention is captured by bright, shiny, worldly things (usually on a screen)? Sometimes I’m tempted to spend those ten minutes checking the latest push notification on my phone or watching the latest episode of my latest TV obsession (this summer it’s The bear). These attractions may not necessarily bebad, but they are all worldly – and they can all easily distract us from the greatest joy of all: a relationship with God in the person of Jesus. Broken bonds can take on individual or collective dimensions; I hear echoes of the young man in political movements in our society that claim to carry the banner of Christ and uphold Christian values, but heartlessly refuse to provide material support to the poor and marginalized.
When I notice that I am falling into such a trap, I find Ignatius’ Suscipe prayer helpful in reorienting myself to God: “Take, Lord, and receive all my freedom, my memory, my understanding and my whole will, everything that I have and call my own… Give me only your love and your grace, and that is enough for me.” But I also find hope in the effect of this Gospel passage. not Matthew does not end the story of the young man after he has turned away from Jesus, leaving open the possibility that the man – who we know to be attempt to live faithfully – eventually turns away from his disordered attachments and devotes himself entirely to God. I like to imagine that his story ends like this; that he finally, perhaps after Jesus’ suffering and resurrection, realizes that God is the center of his life and places Jesus above all the earthly goods he possesses.
