Daily Reflection Monday of the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time

Jesus felt pity for the man who asked for the way to eternal life but then turned away. How sad it is for someone to know his or her goal in life but cannot reach it because there are too many distractions. In this case, the man had too many possessions. Note that Jesus does not condemn the wealthy but he does warn that self-interest – a domineering ego – can cause us to lose our way in reaching our goal. It is always a matter of asking what is our primary concern in life.

One evening, on a college campus after Mass, I stood outside the chapel greeting the congregation. One young man ran up to me. In a panting voice he pleaded, “Father, you gotta help me! I’ve fallen in with a bad bunch of people and now I’m into some bad habits. How can I change?” (Now, in this situation, with others gathering around us, we would be limited to a one-minute conversation.). So I paused and spoke a quiet prayer, “Lord, please, give me something to say to this man.” Then I said to him, “What do you love?” He looked startled. He shook his head and said, “I don’t know.” So I told him, “Well go and think about who and what you love and that may lead you to the answer.”

In that moment it became clear to me, as Jesus says elsewhere, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be.”