Ezekiel 24:15-24: Ezekiel’s wife died suddenly. He surrendered, even in his grief, to letting God use this tragedy to give a message to the people. God told him not to observe the mourning customs so important in his culture. Then, when the people asked him why, he was to say, “You shall do as I have done, not covering your beards nor eating the customary bread….” It was a dramatic gesture to impress upon them how dramatic would be the ruin their sins that were bringing about. Nebuchadnezzar was going to capture and destroy Jerusalem, and they would be deported as slaves without time or means to make mourning for their dead.  

Thus says the Lord GOD: I will now desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold of your pride, the delight of your eyes, the desire of your soul. The sons and daughters you left behind shall fall by the sword. Ezekiel shall be a sign for you: all that he did you shall do when it happens. Thus you shall know that I am the LORD. 

In Matthew 19:16-22, Jesus is also calling for a dramatic gesture. He begins by challenging a man’s use of the word “good”—whether as applied to Jesus himself as “good Teacher” (Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18), or to the good we have to do to have eternal life (Matthew). Either way, Jesus’ point is that, for Christians, “good” means “divine.” Jesus is not just a “good” human teacher; God is speaking in him. And has to be, because what Jesus teaches is not just “good” human behavior; it is life on the level of God. Just keeping the Commandments is not enough. Jesus calls for a dramatic gesture to show we understand. 

If you wish to be perfect [live the perfect life, Christianity], go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. 

Jesus is talking about more than possessions. To follow him we have to give up everything human life holds out to us: not just “houses and fields,” but “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself.” What he offers is the “pearl of great price.” To possess it we have to trade everything, absolutely everything created that we cherish. Unless we give all, we won’t realize that what we are being offered is All. “Eternal life” is not just human life prolonged. It is the Life of God himself, divine life. For this Life we must give our lives. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 13:46; 16:25; 19:29; Luke 14:26.) 

Actually, we make this dramatic gesture at Baptism, when we accept to “die” to this world in Christ and rise again to live in it only as his body on earth. 

We need to understand this. 

Today’s Responsorial is from Deuteronomy 32:18-21: You have forgotten God who gave you birth. 

Prayer Prompt: Am I aware that I gave up my life to let Christ live in me? How does this awareness—or lack thereof—manifest itself in my thoughts and actions? 

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #419, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.