This week, a comet is supposedly visible in the evening, even to the naked eye. There’s some information and a beautiful picture here. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241014.html Act now! Tonight anyway.

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Today’s real topic is Sunday’s Gospel reading. It’s about a rich young man who comes to see Jesus and then leaves. I never hear people commenting on the idea that is clearest to me. Here’s the beginning from Mark 10:17-21.

And as [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”

The next verse starts with Jesus loving the rich young man which is unique to Mark.

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:21-27 ESV

The sermons I have heard on this passage suggest that the poor will get to heaven more easily than the rich. This is not the reaction of the apostles at the time. They see an admirable person, who comes and asks Jesus about eternal life. When the rich man can’t let go of his possessions, and Jesus tells his apostles that it’s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, they have a very specific reaction. They do not assume that the poor are going to inherit eternal life; they assume that NO-ONE gets it.

They think that it’s easier to be good when you are rich. And they have a point. It is easier to be nice to others when you aren’t hungry and tired. It is easier to honor your father when he left you a good life. (How do you think Seth felt about honoring Adam and Eve? When I realized that most people think Adam and Eve went to Heaven I was shocked!) It’s easy to be kind to your servants when they do exactly as you ask, because you are rich and they need the job. But those same poor people don’t get a free pass. They also have to choose God’s love. They must turn away from whatever sin they have chosen for themselves.

The point is that we all are offered eternal life. It was bought and paid for by the Son of God, not by ourselves. Sure, riches can get in the way of God’s love, offering false security. So can poverty can get in the way, if it poisons people’s minds, making them think that they don’t have to strive for goodness, because their life is hard already. A rich person is called to act generously and help the poor, not because the poor are great, but because it is good for the rich person’s soul. I think. Anyway, I think everyone is called to the same moral question. We all have to dump whatever baggage we are carrying, in order to get through the Eye of the Needle.

I had a conversation more than forty years ago with an intellectual Catholic acquaintance who had very little money. He was going on and on about the necessity for living a radical life of absolute poverty, and really loving your enemy, really reading the Bible, and taking it very seriously. Then he started talking about President Reagan being bad for the poor, so I asked if that meant he had to love Ronald Reagan. He said, Absolutely not! He said, Reagan was not the kind of enemy Jesus was talking about when he said to Love your enemies. He said, It was okay to hate him. We never spoke again. Just as well. I wouldn’t have taken anything else he said seriously.

Some years later, I remember my mother going on a tear when I told her about a meeting I had had with some other young mothers. One of them was discussing ‘the poor’ and saying we should find some ‘poor’ people and introduce them to our children, to help them internalize lessons about riches. My mother, who grew up in more poverty than I like to imagine, had a fit about dehumanizing the poor, setting them apart as an exhibit, and she said, not holding them responsible for working towards their salvation, as we are all called to do. I’ve never forgotten her comment.

The second reading on Sunday was from Hebrews and is quite apt.

Brothers and sisters: Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
 No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. Heb 4:12-13

For the sake of completeness … the first reading is from Wisdom 7:7-11.