Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost; Octoechos Tone 3; 🕂 The Placing of the Precious Sash of Our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God.
Polyeleos Feast.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Hebrews 9:1-7; Matthew 19:16-26; Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28.
Read Matthew 19:16-26
Sometimes all it takes is a look – no words. Just a look can say so much. Combine words with a look for emphasis, and then you have strong communication. Whatever is going on in today’s gospel, Jesus meant for it to be especially emphasized.
The “young man” was stuck on “whats” – what good deeds, which commandments? Jesus directs him instead toward a “Who” with a capital W. In his focus on what good thing he should do – which commandment – the young man was missing the One to whom the commandments direct us all. His focus on his own performative works is of a piece with his attachment to his material goods. He won’t relinquish the false security of material goods and works for a relationship of trust in God.
The disciples were missing the point too. They were still thinking that material things and acts would inevitably be more spiritually signifying in human lives than trust in the living God. “But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
Rather than bringing a sigh of relief to us that we can relax now and not have to deal with having to give our money, this is the same message of hope as St. Paul writes to the Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast.” Jesus still says to obey the commandments; he still says that material things are important enough that the poor should have them too. But the crux of the matter – literally – is to relinquish self-justification and false security and put our trust in God.