Rich Young Man 2024 Fr Nicholas Carr

In the name of the Father and of the Son and

of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

Glory forever. In today's gospel, this Sunday,

there is a reading about a rich young man. He

comes to find Jesus because he knows he's the

one to get spiritual advice from, to get instruction.

With a question. A question to ask the Lord.

A question to ask Jesus. And it is a very good

question. And it's one that you and I should

also be asking. And it is this. Good teacher,

what good thing shall I do that I may inherit

eternal life? We all want. to inherit eternal

life. So what did he say? If you want to enter

into life, keep the commandments. And just to

be sure that he understood, this young man said,

which commandments? And Jesus replied, you shall

not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you

shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,

honor your father and your mother, and you shall

love your neighbor as yourself. In other words,

live a life of virtue, striving to do what is

right. So the rich young man replied, all these

things I have kept from my youth. That's not

something I could say. He's done exceptionally

well at keeping these commandments from his very

youngest days. Most of us would not be able to

say that. And yet, he knows there's something

still missing. Something is not quite right.

And so he says, all these things I have kept

from my youth. And he asks, what do I still lack?

Because he knows something is still missing.

He sought out Jesus because he knows that something

is not right. Jesus said to him, If you want

to be perfect, go sell what you have and give

to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven,

and come follow me. But when the young man heard

that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had

great possessions. Well, in our own country's

history, we have a rags -to -riches life of many

people that have come to live the American dream,

and they've become very wealthy in worldly wealth.

One example of a person who became quite wealthy

was John D. Rockefeller, and he worked hard and

became a billionaire tycoon in the 1800s in our

country. And there's a famous story of a reporter

coming to him and asking him, how much money

is enough? How much money is enough? And he allegedly

replied, just a little more. And when we trust

in riches and we trust in the things of this

world, it will always be just a little more that

we need to feel safe. that we need to feel to

be secure. We should not trust in the things

of this world. Rockefeller at least understood

that, that if you trust in earthly wealth for

your security and well -being, they always will

come up a little short. And now for this rich

young ruler. Jesus told him to give it all away

and come and follow him. Why? Because Jesus saw

his heart, how his trust was in his riches, and

it blocked him from trusting God, from trusting

God completely. And the rich young man controlled

his own life. It was his life with his money.

And yet, to be wise, we need to know it is God's

money, and we need to follow God's commandments.

to move on from the riches of this world as our

foundation to the riches of heaven by having

Jesus as our leader. He said, come follow me.

So it was not the riches that were wrong, but

his heart trusting them more than God. That was

wrong for this rich young man. And Jesus called

him to give it all away. And what about you?

And what about me? And perhaps it's not riches

that trouble you. Perhaps there's something else

that you're prioritizing in your life higher

than doing God's will and following Christ. Perhaps

like the young ruler, you are ruling your life

and not letting Christ rule it. Instead of giving

it over to God, your creator, you are keeping

it for yourself. But no matter what the cause,

the answer, is the same. Get rid of whatever

is blocking you from putting God first, from

following our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ

with all your heart. What should we do to inherit

eternal life? That is the question, and it is

to follow Christ. Listen to the holy apostle

John, who says in John 3 .16, For God so loved

the world that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life. It is Jesus who did

the work that brings us to salvation. We may

be able to follow, hopefully, as well as this

rich young man, the commandments that God gives

us to do. but we don't earn our salvation. It

is given to us by Christ in the work that he

did on the cross. We believe in Jesus, in the

Messiah, in the Savior of the world. We believe,

and that belief results in the actions of us

striving to do his commandments and to follow

him and to let him save us and to let him sanctify

us and to let us come to eternal life. All we

need to do is put God first in our lives to have

our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ directing

our paths on our way to heaven. St. Justin Popovich

writes this, Never forget that to believe in

the resurrection of the Lord Jesus means to carry

out a continuous fight with sins, with evil,

with death. If a man fights with sins and passions,

this demonstrates that he indeed believes in

the risen Lord. If he fights with them, he fights

for eternal life. If he does not fight, his faith

is in vain. If man's faith is not a fight for

immortality and eternity, then tell me what is

it? For the one who by faith in the risen Lord

fights with each of his sins, there will be affirmed

in him gradually the feeling that Christ is indeed

risen, has indeed vanquished the sting of sin,

has indeed vanquished death on all the fronts

of combat. But in order to be resurrected with

the Lord Christ, man must first suffer with him

and live his life as his own. And live Christ's

life. as his own. Just as it is easier for a

camel to go through the eye of a needle than

for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,

so our battle against sin can be difficult. But

let us find comfort and hope in the closing words

of Jesus in this Sunday's gospel reading. With

men this is impossible, but with God All things

are possible. Glory to Jesus Christ.