Monday of week 20 in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Matthew 19:16-22
In today’s Gospel, the rich young man sincerely desires eternal life and has faithfully observed the commandments, yet Jesus reveals the one thing still holding him back: he belongs too much to what he possesses and not completely to the One who created him. “Go and sell what you own… then come, follow me.” The deepest challenge is not simply giving up possessions; it is becoming free from ourselves, from our attachments, ambitions, securities, preferences, and the desire to remain in control. True freedom begins when nothing possesses our heart except God. The young man goes away sad because he cannot yet surrender what gives him security in order to belong completely to Christ. Jesus invites us to discover that we lose nothing essential when we give ourselves to our Creator; rather, we discover who we truly are. Everything we have, our life, gifts, relationships, possessions, and vocation, is received from Him and finds its fullest meaning when returned to Him in love. Holiness is therefore a movement from self-possession to self-surrender: becoming progressively free from the need to belong to ourselves so that we may belong entirely to God. And precisely in belonging to Him, we discover the deepest freedom and the greatest treasure of our lives. Let’s reflect: What am I still holding onto that prevents me from being truly free from myself and belonging completely to God?
Don Giorgio