Optional Memorial of Saint Stephen of Hungary

Lectionary: 419

The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”

 

The Church has sometimes interpreted this teaching about perfection as a suggestion or an option, rather than a command. As if to say, “If you want to be perfect, here’s what you do. If not, you can get by with less.” A teacher might make a similar suggestion to the class, “If you want to get an A+ for this course, you’ll have to do this extra work. But if you only show up and pass your tests, you’ll get no better than an A.” 

With that reading, some Catholics aspired to priesthood or vowed celibacy in a religious community as the way of perfection. Others seemed to choose inferior paths of marriage and parenting, or the single life.

But that reading doesn’t fit well with the overall tenor of the gospels. There are too many other passages that exhort us to strive to enter through the narrow gate, and to renounce family, property, and social standing if you would be my disciple. Neither does it recognize the heroic sacrifices of husbands, wives, and parents as they practice their faith in a challenging society.

I read these verses more as a reminder that life is not easy for anyone, and it’s not supposed to be. We either rise to the challenge or fail miserably; there is no in between. The young man in the story walked away from a golden opportunity; he might not get a second chance.

As a hospital chaplain I sometimes meet patients who are awaiting major surgery. I ask, “How do you feel about that?”

They sometimes respond, “I have no choice.”

Actually, they do. First, they are free to refuse the surgery. More importantly, they may choose another attitude, one like: “Let’s do this!”

Neither life nor the Lord invites us to take the easy street. That is why he speaks of renouncing all property and every ordinary human relationship. We give it all or give nothing.

Soldiers who go into combat only because they fear being called cowards will not fight well. The teacher who fails to invite and challenge every student to strive for excellence cannot teach well. Adults who engage in sexual activity without embracing the possibility of parenthood with all its responsibilities betray themselves and their own human generativity.

 

The Lord invited this young man to a full life of discipleship, an invitation which God extends to every human being regardless. Not everyone has heard of Jesus but everyone knows they are called to heroic generosity and fidelity, and will be judged for their failure. 

A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar