In today's Gospel we encounter the young man seeking Jesus, the Master, "What must I do to inherit eternal life." We may all seek the answer to that same question. When we reflect on that question though, don't we realize that we have placed the burden on our selves alone, "What must I do?" as if salvation and the act for it are found within us, as if we have that extraordinary power of God and can do this. It reminds me a little of an RCIA candidate that I worked with years ago. She'd worked for a municipality and believed in the black box: if you put something into one side, you get something out the other side. She didn't understand how that box worked, and wanted to have it for herself so that she could become Catholic immediately without having to go through the process of initiation.
It brings us back to the question of faith. Is faith something that we create ourselves? No. It is that impuse within us set by God that draws us closer to him and yearn for him. The young man in today's Gospel say the goodness in Christ, but as Christ willingly admits, that goodness comes from God and is merely reflected in Christ because of his faith and relationship with the Father.
This story is a great story because it illustrates that we can live a good life being devoted to the Lord, but still harbor those things within us that keep us temporality bound. Perhaps it really is more possibly for a camel to pass through the eye of a tiny needle than for the rich man to pass into Eternal Life, but thankfully Jesus Christ reminds us that "all things are possible for God." He sent his only begotten son (an incredible and seemingly unlikely thing) to suffer and die, to descend into hell the be raised (wait, that was only possible for God!), and ascend into Heaven so that we all may be united with him in his glory within the Kingdom. Jesus in these few words of faith and omnipotence of God brings us right back to the Passion and Resurrection. Alleluia! Praise be to God!
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