Satsang with Moojibaba
Our Lord is the one on the journey when this young man comes up
and he asks a very key question.
What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Which is exactly why we are all here on this earth.
To prepare ourselves precisely for eternal life.
And our Lord in response
enumerates the second seven of the Ten Commandments.
Those commandments which deal with our relationship with each other.
And of course the young man replies in a reply we hear frequently.
Those of us who hear confessions on a regular basis.
Well I've kept all of these.
I don't break any of the commandments.
I've kept all of these all my life.
It's a very good thing.
But then what our Lord's second response is.
One more thing is lacking.
And what is that thing that is lacking?
It reverts back to the first three commandments.
Our relationship with God.
And our Lord tells him exactly how to build that relationship.
Grow still all you have.
Give to the poor.
Come follow me.
I'm going to mean sacrifice.
I'm going to mean giving up.
And since this man was wealthy.
We see his response.
He went away sad.
He was so wealthy.
He was wealthy.
Very wealthy.
And he had many possessions.
Nope.
Didn't want to give those up.
Unfortunately he wasn't willing yet to give up what he took.
Everything that he's going to leave behind anyways when he goes.
When he dies.
He wasn't ready to give it all up.
That was just too much for him.
And he went away sad.
How many of us would face the same thing if we were wealthy?
Well we have a lot.
And probably seek more.
And so our Lord responds to his disciples.
How hard it is for someone wealthy to get into the kingdom of heaven.
How hard it is.
Not.
It's going to be hard for anyone.
Who's not willing to make the sacrifice.
And that's.
There's.
The key.
We're not willing to make that sacrifice.
Because in the end.
We take nothing with us.
And in the end.
Once we are in the kingdom of heaven.
All that's going to matter.
Is God.
God will be everything.
God is everything.
Now.
Today we celebrate.
Here in the United States.
St. Catherine Drexel.
Who was.
Grew up in Philadelphia.
She was an American.
She grew up in Cal.
In Philadelphia.
Born and raised in a very devout Catholic family.
But.
She was wealthy.
She came from a very wealthy family.
A rather prominent family.
In Philadelphia.
And so she had.
Much.
But.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
She had.
But she also had.
As I said.
Very devout parents.
So she learned.
Not only.
Parents.
She lost her mother shortly after she was born.
But her stepmother was just as devout.
And they were raised.
To be charitable.
To practice charity.
And to practice their faith.
In a very devout way.
And that stayed with.
throughout her life, and she was willing to make that sacrifice. She used her inheritance
to take care of the African Americans and Native American peoples, as we saw in her
opening prayer. And she built, she would take care of them in her area where she was in
Philadelphia, and she founded her own religious congregation. And she did the one thing that
our Lord said was lacking. She put that together. Everything was focused on God. She was very
much devoted to the Eucharist. That became the center of all. As you see, there is God
Himself. Our Lord is God. That's the point made in the beginning of this Gospel passage.
Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. Now, if the young man recognizes
that the man before him is God, and God alone is good,
a truly fullness of goodness, then how could you want anything else? And how could you
hesitate to make that sacrifice and follow? And that's exactly what St. Catherine did.
She did not hesitate at all. She followed. And she became the saint she is today.
That's what we must do also. Our whole concentration, our whole focus must be God.
We are towards going back to Him. We are called to return to Him. We are placed here
to return to Him. Our life is a journey. It's the pilgrimage of faith, as it has been called.
We are on a journey, en route back to God. Let us let everything be focused on Him. We
have Him here present with us in the Eucharist, day and night.
Let us turn to Him, pour out our whole needs, everything on Him. Ask for the graces we need
to be able to make that sacrifice and to follow Him.
Recognizing as we see in the very end of this Gospel passage, the same words actually that
the Archangel Gabriel used to Mary, gave to Mary, by alone, without permission, without
the Holy Spirit.
Then it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible.
Praise to be Jesus in the air.