TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
When I was a student in elementary school in the relatively care-free era of the 1950’s, most of us walked back and forth to school each day, usually accompanied by friends or kids from down the block or around the corner. Occasionally we would stop into the stationery store for ink for our fountain pens, or into Woolworth’s, or get a cherry coke at the soda fountain. But one store was off limits.
The sisters warned us sternly that we were not even to think about going into the Fortune-telling Parlor opened by some Gypsies. Of course, we did think about it. We were fascinated by the exotic look of the place, the curtains and beads and women with gold teeth. Wouldn’t it be fun, we thought, to squander our ink money on a visit to the parlor where the fortune-teller would examine our palms or gaze into a crystal ball and solemnly declare, “I see…?”
Our entrance into the Gospel scene today is a little bit like a visit to that forbidden parlor because it brings us into the presence of a man who sees. “The Word of God is living and effective… and able to discern the thoughts of the heart,” we read in the Letter to the Hebrews. And Jesus is that Word. He sees, he discerns things that amaze and unsettle and disappoint and reassure. Jesus tells us what he sees.
He sees, first of all, into the depths of the man who runs up and kneels before him, and he likes what he sees. Jesus discerns a potential for greatness that the young man, himself, has not yet seen. Jesus foresees a future for him that is similar to the futures of Simon Peter and Andrew and James and John and Matthew – a future of great sacrifice and hundred-fold return and persecution and treasure in heaven. And so Jesus issues a challenge. “Give away all that you own and come follow me.” Tragically the young man cannot see himself making that gift, so he goes away sad.
Next, Jesus looks around and he sees the obstacle that wealth or the attachment to wealth poses for anyone seeking entrance to the Kingdom of God. It is akin to trying to squeeze a camel though the eye of a needle. The disciples are amazed at this. How can anyone be saved?
Once again Jesus sees possibilities. Looking toward the future and seeing the playboy Giovanni di Bernadino, nicknamed Francesco, who would become the famed Poverello of Assisi, or the heiress, Katherine Drexel of Philadelphia who would surrender her fortune to her mission. Jesus declares that with God all things are possible.
Finally, Jesus sympathizes with Peter’s desire to gaze into his future and that of his companions who have left everything and burned their bridges behind them. He tells Peter that he sees for them a hundred more times than they have given up in the present age – with persecutions – and eternal life.
All of this brings us to a few questions for our prayerful reflection in the week ahead. When I come and kneel before Jesus as the rich man did, what does he see? Does he see a depth in me that causes him to look on me with love, some potential for holiness of which I am not yet fully aware? Are there possibilities that I have only been able to see as impossibilities? Does looking at them through Jesus’ eyes make them look different? Am I willing to trust Jesus to lead me toward realizing my potential, toward turning possibilities into reality? Can I put myself completely into his hands?
Let me conclude with a brief story. In connection with the Synod of Bishops currently in session in Rome, The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul ran a feature entitled, “31 Under 30.’ It featured a precis of 31 young adults in the archdiocese who are responding generously to Jesus’ call. I will quote the story of 18-year-old Maria Keller of St. Anne’s Parish in Hamel. She is the student founder of an initiative, Read Indeed. “Since she was a child, Maria Keller has been striving to improve literacy among children in Minnesota and beyond. At age 8, she founded Read Indeed, a nonprofit focused on collecting and distributing books for children in need, with the belief that “a home that’s rich in books is a home that’s rich in possibilities.” Since then, she has given more than 2.5 million books, and her mission continues. “Giving back to those in need is the core element of my Catholic faith,” said Keller, now a freshman at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
It does not require a visit to a Fortune-teller to predict that Maria, unlike the young man in today’s Gospel, will have a happy future. But it does take a visit here to the altar for you and me to know what will make us happy.