Well, if we look at today’s Gospel reading, what jumps out is that Jesus only names 6 of the 10 commandments. The “Do nots”. What is missing is arguably the most important, the first commandment.

As you know, in Biblical times it was thought that God rewarded the good and punished the evil. So if you were rich or poor it was because of your or a previous generations actions. So, the “rich man” is pretty much what a perfect Jew would look like in the time of Christ, he was rich and, at least from the outside, kept the commandments. Jesus knew he was missing something in the inside.

To this day, being rich or poor is not a sin. Though we may want to place blame on someone or something for our condition. But, one thing has not changed, God is jealous. Keeping all the “Do not” commandents may or may not be hard, but it does not guarantee anything. Placing God first does.

Thanks for the reflection.

Mark