10 October 2021
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
After the Rich Young Man departs, Jesus says to His disciples “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God” (Mk. 10:23). Consider for a moment that Jesus is not simply excusing why the young man did not take up his offer, but is trying to tell something to his disciples: wealth can hinder our ability to respond to God, and so place our salvation at risk. As Jesus was calling the rich young man, He was trying to save him.
When Jesus called the rich young man, He was trying to encourage the young man to give up precisely what was keeping the young man from responding to God. This is true of every vocation. God does not call us to random tasks. He calls us to ways of life which help us grow in the way that we, as concrete individuals, need to grow. The demands your vocation makes on you is how you yourself need to be pruned in order to grow. The ways that your vocation challenges you to love are the ways that you need to learn how to love.
Sometimes, it can be the case that we live our vocations for so long that we take them for granted. Look back on your life and see how your own vocation—in marriage, parenthood, or any particular way of life—has helped you to grow. See the ways in which you are a better person. Appreciate what has been pruned and what has been fostered. Look over your vocation, and appreciate how God has called you where you are in order to save you.