Gospel of Sunday, 13 October: Mark 10:17-30
XXVIII Sunday Year B
17 As he was leaving to set out on his journey, a fellow ran up to him and, throwing himself on his knees before him, asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not defraud, and honor father and mother.”
20 He then said to him, “Teacher, all these things I have observed from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, staring at him, loved him and said to him, “Only one thing you lack: go, sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.” 22 But he was saddened by those words and went away afflicted, for he had many possessions.
23 Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, “How hardly will those who have riches enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were astonished at these words of his; but Jesus resumed, “My children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They, still more astonished, said among themselves, “And who on earth can be saved?” 27 But Jesus, looking at them, said, “Impossible with men, but not with God! For all things are possible with God.”
28 Peter then said to him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields because of me and because of the gospel, 30 who does not already at the present time receive a hundred times as much in houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, together with persecutions, and in the future eternal life. 31 And many of the first will be last and the last the first.”Mk 10:17-30
Dear sisters and brothers of Misericordia, I am Carlo Miglietta, a doctor, biblical scholar, layman, husband, father and grandfather (www.buonabibbiaatutti.it). Also today I share with you a short thought meditation on the Gospel, with special reference to the theme of mercy.
The so-called passage “of the rich young man” is certainly one of the most indicative of Jesus’ thinking about riches.
When the rich young man, upon Jesus’ proposal to sell what he owned and give it to the poor, “went away afflicted, for he had many possessions,” a dramatic confrontation opens between Jesus and his disciples on the issue of possessing possessions. The Master announces the great difficulty of the salvation of the rich (Mk 10:23); it must have been a novel position if the evangelist notes the astonishment of the disciples, “The disciples were astonished at these words of his.” But Jesus reiterates this difficulty with the famous example of the camel that has to pass through the eye of a needle (Mark 10:24-25). Mark again emphasizes the shock of the bystanders at this announcement, remarking with a comparative that “they, even more astonished, said among themselves, ‘And who on earth can be saved?’” (Mk 10:26). This is the trauma of the early Church, which sometimes proposed softer textual variants: such as the one in verse 23 of Mark chapter ten that transformed “the rich” into “those who trust in riches” (even the Latin text of the Vulgate adds to verse 24: “confidentes in pecuniis“), thus substituting for the command to share one’s wealth a simple invitation not to be too inwardly attached to it; or the one that put, in verse 25, ‘gomena’ (”kàmilos“) in place of ‘camel’ (”kàmelos”), so as not to make it precisely impossible for the rich to enter Paradise: if it is impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, who knows that with some effort a gomena might not succeed, perhaps fraying and unraveling. ..
Matthew, in the parallel passage, adds, “Love your neighbor as yourself” to the Marcian text of the precepts listed by Jesus to the rich young man (Mt. 19:19). The Church Fathers, commenting on this Gospel pericope, note how the accumulation of riches is contrary to charity, and that therefore the young man, possessing vast possessions, is lying when he claims to have always kept the commandments of the Lord. Origen (185-253) already cites a fragment from the apocryphal “Gospel of the Hebrews” in which Jesus, to the rich man who claims to have always kept the commandments, objects, “How can you say that you have kept the Law and the Prophets… while so many of your brothers the sons of Abraham stand in filth and starve, and your house is full of possessions, and nothing comes out of it for them?”
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, concludes that no miser, as well as fornicators or the unclean, “shall have any share in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 5:5).
The meaning of the condemnation of wealth as a failure to share with the poor is crystal clear: and I believe we must welcome this Word of life, letting ourselves also be amazed and provoked by it, as the disciples did, without immediately taking refuge in the mercy of God that Jesus proclaims even in this situation: “Impossible with men, but not with God! For all things are possible to God!” (Mark 10:27).
But the Fathers warn us against distorting our understanding of this proclamation of the Lord’s clemency: for them, the proclamation of God’s power in regard to the salvation of all does not mean that whatever we do in regard to the use of riches will ultimately be indifferent before Him at the time of our judgment; it is meant to proclaim that God has the power to convert even the most avaricious and obstinate rich man into a brother capable of sharing and solidarity. For John Chrysostom (345/54-407), bishop of Constantinople, says: “How then is it possible for the rich man to be saved? By possessing the things that belong to him in common with the needy.”
Monsignor Bartolucci, bishop of Esmeraldas in Ecuador, said that when Jesus proclaims, “What is impossible to men is possible to God” (Lk. 18:27) “it does not mean that, in the end, God will open the doors of the kingdom even to those who have a rich man’s heart. It means that God can give even to the rich a poor man’s heart.” Riches then do not become an impediment to following Christ, but the means of concretely manifesting, in love for our brothers and sisters, our love for the Lord.
To those who embrace evangelical poverty, sharing their goods with the least of these, Jesus promises not only eternal life, but his providential help already in this existence, “already at the present time a hundred times as much in houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields” (Mark 10:28-30). It is God himself who will provide for his own, as Jesus reminds us at the Last Supper, “When I sent you without bag or saddlebag or sandals, did you lack anything?” (Lk 22:35).
As Paul says, quoting the Psalms (Ps 112:9), “Keep in mind that he who sows sparsely, sparsely will reap, and he who sows with breadth, with breadth will reap…. For the rest, God has power to make all grace abound in you, so that, always having the necessities of all things, you may do good works generously, as it is written, ‘He has made broad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever’” (2 Cor. 9:6-9).
Happy Mercy to all!
Anyone who would like to read a more complete exegesis of the text, or some insights, please ask me at migliettacarlo@gmail.com.