Hearth & Altar

The young man asked the right question. He had kept the commandments - all of them, since he was young - and he knew something was still missing. So he asked: what do I still lack?

Jesus told him exactly what it was. Sell what you have. Give to the poor. Come follow me.

And he went away sad, because he had many possessions.

He is not a villain in this story. He heard the real answer to the real question and told the truth about what it cost him. He did not argue. He did not pretend. He went away sad. That honesty is worth something.

Ezekiel was asked to carry grief silently - his wife died and God told him not to perform the customary mourning. The loss of the delight of your eyes is the theme running through both readings today. What you most love is also the place where obedience is most costly.

Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. Mark's Gospel says so plainly. The invitation is still open.

• For our family, that we would ask the young man's question honestly and stay for the answer even when it costs something, we pray to the Lord.
• For the children in our family, that they would learn to hold the delights of their eyes with open hands - to love things without being owned by them, we pray to the Lord.
• Under the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the grace to grieve honestly and to grieve well, we pray to the Lord.
• For those in our family who have walked away sad from something God asked - that the invitation would still be open when they turn back, we pray to the Lord.

At dinner tonight: ask each person to name something they really love - a possession, a comfort, a part of their life they would not want to give up. Then ask: if God asked you to hold that more loosely, what would that feel like?

Don't force answers. Let the question sit. The young man at least asked. That is the beginning.

Jesus loved the young man who went away sad. He does not stop loving the people who couldn't do what was asked. The model you give your children of honest grief - the "I can't do this yet" said without pretense - is more valuable than the performance of easy surrender.