Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings

• First Reading Wisdom 7:7-11
• Responsorial Psalm Psalm 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
• Second Reading Hebrews 4:12-13
• Gospel Mark 10:17-30

Open the Mass Readings on USCCB.org →

Step Into the Story

The Book of Wisdom, written in Greek, probably in Alexandria shortly before Christ, speaks in the voice of Solomon, who asked God for wisdom rather than riches. “I preferred her to scepter and throne,” he says, and riches came anyway. Around 270 A.D. a young Egyptian named Anthony heard today’s Gospel read in church, gave away his inheritance and went into the desert. Christian monasticism followed him.

1. 6 A.D.Rome rules Judea directly
2. 14 A.D.Tiberius becomes emperor
3. 26 A.D.Pilate becomes prefect
4. c. 28 A.D.John baptizes at the Jordan
5. This week’s scene: c. 29 A.D.The rich man kneels

Stand by the road in the Jordan valley as Jesus sets out again toward Jerusalem, a few months before His death. Dust lifts from the track. A man comes running, a man of property, by the cut of his cloak, and he drops to his knees in the dirt right in front of Jesus. “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He has kept the commandments since boyhood, he says, and he means it. Look at him: eager, well fed, sincere. Then watch Jesus look at him, and Mark says it plainly: He loved him. Stand close enough to see both faces. Wait for what Jesus will ask of him.

Encounter the Lord

Watch the man run to Jesus and kneel. He is sincere and good; he has kept the commandments. Then Mark gives us one of the most tender lines in the Gospels: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.”

Jesus’ invitation is not a rebuke; it is love. He sees what is holding this man back and offers him freedom: give it away, and come, follow me. The man goes away sad. Possessions promise security, but they can keep us from the One who is our true treasure. Jesus does not ask everyone to sell everything, but He asks everyone to hold nothing back from Him. The word of God, sharper than a sword, shows us where we are attached. And for God all things are possible, even a free heart.

Let Jesus look at you with love this week, and ask Him: “What am I still lacking?” Then give away something you are attached to.

Know Your Faith

Christ, the Unique Word of Scripture

Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, His one Utterance in whom He expresses Himself completely (CCC 101-104). In Sacred Scripture the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength (CCC 104).

Scripture in the Life of the Church

The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord’s Body. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ (CCC 131-133).

Scripture and Prayer

Prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man (CCC 2653-2654). Lectio divina is one way to pray with God’s word (CCC 1177, 2708).

Poverty of Heart

Jesus enjoins His disciples to prefer Him to everything and everyone, and bids them renounce all that they have for His sake (CCC 2544). All Christ’s faithful are to direct their affections rightly, so that the use of worldly things does not hinder them in the pursuit of perfect charity (CCC 2545). The rich young man shows that following Christ involves keeping the commandments and more (CCC 2052-2053).