No One is Beyond Hope
Mar. 3: Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, the terms “saved,” “entering the Kingdom of God,” and “inherit eternal life” are used interchangeably. What they all mean is joining together with God in the afterlife. But as the reading from Sirach points out, what we do in this life affects the next.
Reading 1
Sir 17:20-24
To the penitent God provides a way back, he encourages those who are losing hope and has chosen for them the lot of truth. Return to him and give up sin, pray to the LORD and make your offenses few. Turn again to the Most High and away from your sin, hate intensely what he loathes, and know the justice and judgments of God, Stand firm in the way set before you, in prayer to the Most High God.
Who in the nether world can glorify the Most High in place of the living who offer their praise? Dwell no longer in the error of the ungodly, but offer your praise before death. No more can the dead give praise than those who have never lived; You who are alive and well shall praise and glorify God in his mercies. How great the mercy of the LORD, his forgiveness of those who return to him!
The meaning of the first part of this passage is pretty clear—no sinner is beyond hope. God will forgive us, if we seek forgiveness.
The second half is less obvious. Some people interpret it to mean that Sirach doesn’t believe in the resurrection, or life after death. But Sirach was written less than two centuries before Christ, and it’s unlikely to have been preserved in the Septuagint if it denied the resurrection.
Father William Most says that “A major key to understanding many texts is the fact that before the death of Christ, heaven was closed even to those who were just and fully prepared. So what was existence like in Sheol? There was no praise of God.” Which is why they should make the most of their time on Earth, doing good and praising God.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R. (11a) Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.
Often in the Bible, “sin” refers not just to the personal act of rebellion against God but also the consequences of that act—frustration and waning of vitality. Sin becomes a habit, and wears us down.
That’s why we need the sacrament of reconciliation, to break those cycles. And of course, Lent is the perfect time to go to confession, if we haven’t in a while.
Alleluia
2 Cor 8:9
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
In becoming humble, Jesus shows by example the responsibility the rich have to the poor.
Gospel
Mk 10:17-27
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother."
He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
There are a few interesting things to not in this reading.
First, many people theorize the rich young man is Mark, the evangelist himself. After all, who else but the young man would know how Jesus looked at him?1 Which means that although he walked away sad, he did indeed sell his possessions.
Now, the disciples were shocked by this instruction, because Jews believed that the rich were especially blessed. Jesus tells them, no, they have special challenges—like not being able to be humble, or recognize their dependence on God, plus temptations to abuse their positions of power. That’s why it’s more difficult for the rich to enter heaven than to push a large animal through a small metal hoop.2
But not impossible.
Anyone can be saved, with God’s help, because God loves us and wants to forgive us. External markers like wealth and poverty mean nothing to Him. It’s what’s in our hearts and what we do in those circumstances that matters.
It’s notable that this detail is left out of Matthew’s and Luke’s versions.
As an aside, there is absolutely no evidence that Jerusalem had a gate that anyone referred to as a “needle.” And even if their was, the text doesn’t support that reading. Pushing a camel through a doorway would not illustrate the necessity of divine intervention that Christ is calling for here.