The Day I Realized I Was the Young Rich Man

It was over the course of two weeks that a certain parable came up at least five or six times. God was clearly trying to get my attention.

16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. [Matthew 19:16-22 English Standard Version]

This parable has always made me uncomfortable. Why? I'm young. I'm materially blessed and financially secure. I am comfortable with my lifestyle. I do a decent job of following the commandments. I desire eternal life, but I'm afraid of the costs of what eternal life will demand of me. My vocation is in question.

One day, I took out my prayer book that I received to deepen my Lenten prayer life, and turned randomly to a chapter that included a prayer exercise on this particular passage. As I went through the exercise, I was encouraged to pray about it and ask God what He was trying to say to me. So I did, and it continued to give me clarity on my vocation.

Painful clarity. God seemed to be telling me the same thing he said to the young rich man: Leave it all behind the follow me.

So painful, I cried at the thought of leaving my comforts and treasures to do what God asked of me. I realized while crying that I was exactly like the young rich man, but rather a young rich woman. I was tied to my comforts, treasures, and comfortable lifestyle. I was sorrowful over what I would lose by following Him. No one said following God was easy, and for those of us like myself who are steeped in the comforts and riches of world, what God asks of us in terms of a vocation can be daunting.

I find it peculiar that this passage involved a young man. Not just any man – but a young man. It is when we are young that we often find our vocations and are called to discipleship. Think of seminarians and religious who must make enormous sacrifices to follow God and witness to the Gospel. Certainly, lay people who serve the Church and those in need make similar sacrifices as well.

We don't know if the young rich man ever said yes, but I don't necessarily think we need to know. I think the purpose of this parable is to show us that God eventually calls some of us to a deeper commitment, and we may experience sorrow in leaving behind the blessings of the world for the promise of eternal life.

It will cost some of us dearly to respond to what God asks of us and attain eternal life. He asks us to rid ourselves of our worldliness and follow Him into greater freedom disguised as greater loss. He asks us to give up our lives for the sake of the Gospel. He asks us to part with our worldly gifts to accept true eternal gifts.

These are not easy choices, but neither was Jesus' to die on a cross.

Will we say yes to the invitation?