Come, follow Me

In today’s Gospel, Mark 10: 17-27, a young man runs up to Jesus and says: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. The young man assures Jesus that he has done that his entire life. “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’” The man walks away from Jesus sad; he is not ready to follow Jesus in that way. Jesus looks around at his disciples and says: “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!”   

Are you struggling with letting go of the one thing that keeps you from responding to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him? What is that “one thing”  that holds you back from taking that next step in realizing the vocation to which God is calling you:  to embracing the demands of marriage, of committing yourself to a life’s partner, to accepting the call to religious life or priesthood or the single lifestyle?  Ask Jesus to show you what it is that you lack, that you need, in order to move forward in the realization of your vocation in life.  Take the time you need in prayer: spend time before the Blessed Sacrament, in the solitude of your room, in the quiet of nature, seeking the answer to that question.

Be not afraid. Jesus, also, looks at you with a deep love. Gaze upon Him as He gazes upon you! He holds sacred the answer you need to face! May you have the courage to listen for that answer!