20th Week in Ordinary Time: Monday 19th August 2019

When asked how to achieve everlasting life, Jesus lists those commandments which deal with our relations to other people; he does not mention the three commandments which regard our relations with God. When this response does not satisfy the young man, Jesus seems to go even further in this direction of serving the neighbour and still does not mention God as such: “Go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor… Then come back and follow me.” The implication is that, by doing what we can for those around us, we serve God, we begin to follow Christ.

Every one of us can be counted among the poor who need to be served: not one of us feels that we are sufficiently known but rather that we are neglected, misunderstood, and undervalued by others. And every one of us feels insufficiently loved and cared for. So in this passage Jesus actively sends each of us to every person we know or meet.

Jesus Himself comes to meet us as we open ourselves to the service and love of those others who come to us. Let us try to go beyond the law in a self-forgetting love and concern for others that is a true imitation of our heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, may we greatly increase our  sacrificial giving to the poor.