MARY, OUR MOTHER

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #375

And behold one came and said to him: "Good master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?" Who said to him: "Why askest thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to him: "Which?" And Jesus said: "Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The young man saith to him: "All these have I kept from my youth, what is yet wanting to me?" Jesus saith to him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." (Matt. 19:16-21)

RESISTANCE OF GRACE: The rich young man was called to a state of perfection by the longing for it which has arisen in his heart, by the impulse of divine grace, and by our Lord's express invitation. Had he corresponded with grace, he would have been a Christian, a Saint, and perhaps even an apostle in the place of Judas. We may well ask ourselves what became of him after he resisted our Lord's gracious invitation, because of his too great attachment to the things of this world. Does he now gaze in heaven on that Divine Face from which, on earth, he turned away? The solemn words uttered by our Lord as the young man away: "Amen I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven," lead us to fear that, after his rejection of the invitation of Jesus, he may have lost all faith in Him, and therefore all hope of heaven.

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)