Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint 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 have 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.
To Reach Eternal Life
1) What should I do? Faith does not come down solely to morality, but morality is a part of faith. Morality is important, but you can’t reduce faith to only that. We can’t turn into moralists, or people constantly checking to see who is doing right or wrong or deciding who can come in and who can’t. We can, however, look to see how well we are living out the Ten Commandments. Yes, it’s true that it can be very difficult to keep the Commandments. God had everything crystal clear when He gave us those rules for life. They are useful indications, tiny lights that tell us the way to go. They help us on our journey to reach eternal life and to live in peace. Are you on the road to eternal life? Do you have peace? Analyze your life by examining your conscience using the Ten Commandments as your guidelines in the order they are given. It’s good to clean the dust from our souls once in a while.
2) Giving Up. After analyzing your life from the moral point of view, there comes another kind of analysis, a more spiritual one. Are you selfless? The ‘Holy Madman of Assisi’ comes to mind when I think of selflessness. He said, ‘the more you have, the more you are a slave to those possessions.’ He was right. I know several people who live to pay for the holiday home they bought more than they actually enjoy the holiday home. Why do you want to have so much, if you don’t enjoy the life God has given you? I’ve met many people who had full pockets but were bitter and not truly living their lives.
3) Sadness: You may feel sad when you see that you can’t have everything or that there may be some things you need to let go of. This is natural. To reach greater heights, you need to let go of the weight that is holding you down. Today, I don’t know what you have to give up, but I do know that you and I have to give up something. Don’t allow sadness to swallow you up, and don’t let it take over your life. You must live in happiness. If you examine your life using the Ten Commandments, follow God, and let go of things that don’t lead to Him, you will begin to live your life differently. Don’t put more weight onto your life. Fight on because Heaven is our goal! You and I must reach Heaven, don’t you think?
May God bless you and be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. …and do not forget: Heaven is Our Goal!
