<div dir="ltr">
<b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">Friends,<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">
<b> in today’s Gospel a rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to
inherit eternal life.</b></span> There is something absolutely right about<span style="background-color:rgb(207,226,243)"><b> the
young man, </b></span>something spiritually alive, and that is <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>his deep desire to
share in everlasting life.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>He knows what he wants, and he knows where to
find it.</b></span></span><br><br><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">Jesus
responds to his wonderful question by enumerating many of the
commandments. The young man takes this
in and replies, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my childhood." So
Jesus looks at him with love and says, "Go and sell what you have and
give to the poor. After that come follow me."</span></b><br></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>God
is nothing but love straight through, and therefore the life of
friendship with him, in the richest sense, is a life of total,
self-forgetting love. </b><b>Jesus senses that this young man is ready for the
high adventure of the spiritual life; he is asking the right question
and he is properly prepared.</b></span></span><br><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>But at this point, the young man tragically balks. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The spiritual life, at the highest pitch, is about giving your
life away,</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> and this is why having many possessions </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is a problem.</b></span></span></b></b></b></b></span></b></b>
<br></div>