Sunday Gospel Comment

 

Alberic Jacovone OSB

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YEAR B

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 12.10.03

Wis 7,7-11; Hb 4,12-13; Mk 10,17-30

Possessed by  Possessions

The story of the 'rich young ruler' is well known. It is found in three Gospels: for Matthew he is young, for Luke he is a ruler, for Mark he is just someone, like you and me, but not as young for he had kept the commandments (mitzvoth) since his youth. All 3 Gospels insist he had many possessions. Using Jesus' harshest language, Mark warns us against attitudes that in fact are a barrier to our faith and a substitute for God: so he warns against scandals of power, urge to dominate, selfish arrogance and greed for possessions. Jesus' teaching shocks and grieves the rich ruler, while at the same time, it greatly astounds the disciples: how can wealth be such a barrier to Christian faith? Isn't it a sign of God's blessing? True the Torah teaches to use wealth wisely and justly, but somehow Jesus takes for granted that all possessions are amassed through exploitation, since even the Torah-teachers swallow up widow's houses, and make a show of praying (12,40). Over the centuries, the story of the rich ruler has made a deep impression on Christianity: many saints, took literally Jesus' advice to sell everything and founded Religious Orders -of men & women-, who live a life of Evangelical Counsels, even if at times attract the criticism of having nothing but possessing everything' (2Cor 6,10).
Jesus' option for the poor.
The teaching of Jesus on poverty is firm, harsh and radical. Mark could not be more intense: Jesus looks steadily at the rich ruler and says: do not be possessed by possessions. And, looking just as steadily at his disciples he says: It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle! The disciples are left to plead: if this is so, who can be saved? To understand Jesus' praxis and teaching on poverty we must look at the context of his times and social conditions. Jesus is not asking us to live as destitute beggars (ptochos), or as penury-stricken people (penes) although their welfare must attend to. But He urges us to be familiar with those who lack the necessities of life, since he lives in them: I was hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, unemployed, despised. With these needy people we are all metaphorically united: the New Testament speaks of a pervasive, spiritual poverty or indigence (endees), as in God¹s house, we are all needy.
The latest biblical scholarship (both Liberation & Feminist) has provided deeper insights into the times and social conditions that motivated the evangelism of the radically poor for the radically poor. Experts suggest that Mark wrote his Gospel for a poor Church community in Roman-occupied Syria, at a time of persecution, while the Roman army was suppressing the First Jewish Revolt in Holy Land in A.D. 67-70. Tragically this ended up with the destruction of the Temple and the Old Jewish religious life. While addressing his message to a rather settled, structured and orderly Christian community, Mark writes about the life-style of John the Baptist, of Jesus himself and of his first disciples, all radical wanderers, all promoting a movement of the poor for the poor, all requiring a radical concern for all oppressed and marginalized. This was the setting which God had chosen to launch a
New Order, and ransom all nations, all cultures, all times. The worldly rich and powerful would never see God's designs in such a mission.

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