Feb. Trinity
(Sunday
before Ash Wednesday, 7th Sunday before Easter)
Luke
18: 18-34
One
of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what
must I do to obtain eternal life?”
Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is
good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy
marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth,
and you shall honor your father and your mother!
He
said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”
When
Jesus heard this, he said, [Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… Mk 10:21]
“One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions, and give the money
to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come
and follow me!
 |
| Hoffman |
He
was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him
thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or
inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God kingdom
of God
Those
who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”
He
said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the
power of God working in man.”
 |
| Collot d' Herbois |
Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up
everything to follow you.”
He
replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or
brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now
we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written
about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples
of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge
him and kill him; but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”
Yet his disciples understood
nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and
they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.
4th February Trinity
March 2, 2014
Luke 18: 18-34
Here in the Northern Hemisphere we are anticipating the
richness of spring and the fullness of summer; But below the equator it is
autumn and winter that are approaching. This is a picture of a great truth on
the soul level: over the whole of a
lifetime, no matter what our riches, we must pass through loss and death to
arrive at new life.
This is brought home to the rich young man in the gospel
reading. He is rich, both inwardly and outwardly; he is in the summer of his
development. But Christ is asking him to
take the next step—a step into an autumn shedding, the step into a winter sleep.
He is to become a Lazarus, one who leaves behind a topside wealth for the good
of others and lays down his life.
At this moment in the gospel, the young man is very sad—he experiences
already the grief of loss. But in following Christ, he will be called forth to
a whole new level of being. His loss and death will be real and complete. But so
will his completely new and unforeseen life. For Christ will intimately and continuously accompany
his further development –through loss and death, and into a further life. The poet Mary
Oliver says:
Every year
everything
 |
| Rembrandt |
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation
….
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.*
*Mary Oliver, “In Blackwater Woods”
