The rich young ruler is not boasting; he is just speaking as a devout Jew.
Not all Christians are called to literally give away their possessions, but all disciples are called to give up everything by way of detachment; that everything we have ultimately belongs to God. Spiritual poverty means to detach from material things to the same extent as those called to religious poverty as a monk, etc. The only difference is that one calling is both interior and exterior, and the other calling is only interior. But it must be just as radical.
Jesus said, “you shall not defraud,” instead of the normal phrasing of the Tenth Commandment, “Do not covet.” This emphasis on defrauding may mean that the young man may have not kept this commandment so perfectly because the Greek translation implies that he was a large landowner which pretty much meant the exploitation of the peasantry.
Ultimately, the final “possession” which Jesus asks the young man to relinquish is his self-possession, that “self” which “has riches” but was suffering from an existential evasion (evasion existencial).
Jesus said "Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
The self cannot lose itself and have it too on its own terms.
He was not willing to “unlearn” his pre-conceived notion of his self.
As Thomas Merton writes, the tragedy is that our consciousness can be alienated from God who is our being and inmost ground of identity. We have to unlearn our independence from God, and isolation from our neighbor.
He went away sad, for he had many possessions- Chrysostom noted that the man is unhappy because wealth increases sorrow.
St. Ignatius recommends praying over your own death. It can transform the tone and level of the inner life. For the same reason we begin Lent by marking our heads with ashes, celebrating how we ourselves our dust. It’s a path to making good decisions of how we spend our life.
2. For those who want help discerning: Vocation is a tapestry that gathers up the disparate threads of your life. It is what will cause you to love the most.
Ask yourself, “Have I been rebelling against God’s desire for my life’s work?”
Frederick Buechner said that “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
3. Peter said to Jesus, "We have given up everything and followed you."
Jesus asking the rich young man to divest his assets which is not much different from asking a fisherman to leave his boat and nets.
Peter and others had already left their families to follow Christ. In that culture, the clan to which an Israelite belongs is so important; it is the ancient patriarchal family, and children are both their greatest joy and their social security. Fields are the Israelite's portion of the sacred heritage promised by God.
By the apostles leaving all of that, we can see that Jesus relativized all of the central institutions of his society.
As May writes, "In the first-century world-view, the abandonment of family was the crassest form of dishonor," and that the only way the kinship bonds could be broken without incurring or inducing shame would be "when there is a higher legitimating norm [in this case]. . .leaving for Jesus' sake or for the gospel."
In 6:18-19, Timothy is told by Paul that those with money are called to be generous and ready to share, thereby “storing up for themselves a good foundation for what is coming, to take hold of true life.” Those with money are to “treasure up” for themselves a good foundation for treasure for the eternal life.
Jesus said that what one gives up following him will receive a hundred times more in this life, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
There is a striking contrast between the many benefits in this life and single reward of eternal life, which implies that eternal life is much more valuable than any benefits we get in this life.
Whatever is holding me back? Jesus… “Help me see it and let go of it…Amen.”
[compiled]
