POPE FRANCIS

ANGELUS

Saint Peter's Square

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Today's Gospel, taken from chapter 10 of Mark, is structured around three scenes, punctuated by three looks from Jesus.

The first scene presents the encounter between the Master and a person who—according to the parallel passage in Matthew—is identified as “young.” Jesus encounters a young man. This young man runs to Jesus, kneels, and calls him “Good Teacher.” Then he asks him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”—that is, happiness (v. 17). “Eternal life” is not merely life in the hereafter, but a full, complete, limitless life. What must we do to attain it? Jesus’ answer summarizes the commandments that refer to love for one’s neighbor. In this respect, this young man has nothing to reproach himself for; but clearly, observing the precepts is not enough for him, does not satisfy his desire for fullness. And Jesus perceives the desire that this young man carries in his heart; that is why his response is expressed through an intense gaze full of tenderness and affection. The Gospel says: “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (v. 21). He saw that he was a good young man… But Jesus also understands his interlocutor’s weakness, and he makes him a concrete offer: to give all his possessions to the poor and follow him. But this young man’s heart is torn between two masters: God and money, and he goes away saddened. This demonstrates that faith and attachment to riches cannot coexist. Thus, in the end, the young man’s initial enthusiasm fades into the sorrow of a shipwrecked follower.

In the second scene, the evangelist frames Jesus' eyes, and this time it is a thoughtful, warning look: “Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’” (v. 23). To the disciples' astonishment, who ask, “Then who can be saved?” (v. 26), Jesus responds with a look of encouragement—this is the third look—and says: salvation, indeed, is “impossible for mortals, but not for God” (v. 27). If we trust in the Lord, we can overcome all the obstacles that prevent us from following him on the path of faith. Trust in the Lord. He will give us strength, He gives us salvation, He accompanies us on the way.

And so we have arrived at the third scene, that of Jesus' solemn declaration: “Truly I tell you, whoever leaves everything to follow me will have eternal life in the future and a hundredfold in this present age” (cf. vv. 29-30). This “hundredfold” is made up of things previously possessed and then relinquished, but which are found to be multiplied infinitely. One deprives oneself of material goods and receives in exchange the enjoyment of true goodness; one is freed from the bondage of things and gains the freedom of service through love; one renounces possession and receives the joy of giving. This is what Jesus said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (cf. Acts 20:35).

The young man was not won over by Jesus' loving gaze, and thus, he could not change. It is only by welcoming the Lord's love with humble gratitude that we free ourselves from the seduction of idols and the blindness of our illusions. Money, pleasure, and success dazzle, but then they disappoint: they promise life, but bring death. The Lord asks us to detach ourselves from these false riches to enter into true life, a full, authentic, and luminous life. And I ask you, young men and women, who are now in the square: "Have you felt Jesus' gaze upon you? What do you want to answer him? Would you prefer to leave this place with the joy that Jesus gives us or with the sadness in your heart that worldliness offers us?"

May the Virgin Mary help us to open our hearts to the love of Jesus, to the gaze of Jesus, the only one who can satisfy our thirst for happiness.