Today, let us take a different perspective and look at another stumbling block that hinders us from finding hope. It turns out that another way to test and reveal the extent of our faith and hope is to consider: what do we ask of God?
The rich young man came before Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) The rich young man longed for eternal life and yearned to attain it, showing that he regarded eternal life as his happiness, which precisely fits the definition of the virtue of hope in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1817)
In addition, he had the right goal and desired to do good, which is exactly what Jesus teaches us. Therefore, Jesus loved him very much (cf. Mark 10:21). However, his simple question revealed the mindset of the rich young man. He hoped to earn eternal life by doing something himself. What he believed in was his own ability, rather than relying on God's grace.
On the other hand, Peter even boldly asked Jesus for a reward, on behalf of himself and the other disciples, because they had willingly given up everything to follow Him.
The former, that is, the rich young man, wanted to show that he had the ability to respond to God’s demands and accomplish certain things; the latter, that is, Peter, felt self-satisfied and compared themselves with the rich young man, believing that he and his companions had already given up everything for Jesus, and hoped that Jesus would somehow reward them.
We can clearly see that Peter and the disciples had indeed taken a significant step further than the rich young man. On the path of growing in the virtues of faith and hope, the disciples were undeniably closer to God’s Kingdom than the young man. However, let us take our analysis a step further.
What Jesus asks of us first and foremost is not to rely on earthly wealth. For He solemnly said to His disciples: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:24–25) Therefore, the primary condition Jesus set for His chosen disciples was that they must give up everything to follow Him.
At that time, Jesus began with a more basic requirement, inviting the rich young man to keep God’s commandments. In an effort to demonstrate his faith and capability, the rich young man confidently responded to Jesus, saying that he had kept all of them. So Jesus then said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21) Jesus’ response might strike us as blunt, harsh, or even unreasonable, but in reality, it is not.
Jesus knew that if we are to follow Him successfully and faithfully, we must trust Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. The prerequisite is our willingness to let go of earthly wealth. But refraining from relying on our possessions and material riches is only the first step! What is even more difficult is to stop depending on our own abilities, including our skills, our capacity to handle things, and the belief that we can achieve our goals by our own methods and willpower.
Just like the rich young man believed he could fulfill Jesus’ demands through his own strength, Peter and the disciples also thought that by their own will, they had the power to choose to leave everything behind and follow Jesus.
So, although there was still a significant gap between the rich young man and the disciples in their response to God and their journey of building the virtue of hope, they had not yet met Jesus’ requirement: to deny themselves, to stop relying on their own abilities, and to fully trust and follow Him.
That is why Jesus looked at His disciples intently and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
As we set our hearts on reaching a more complete and mature hope, let us reflect seriously and examine our current state, considering how we can truly deny ourselves, make the deliberate choice to let go of all that binds us to the world, and resist the temptation to place our trust in our own abilities.
Reflection
Now, take a moment to examine yourself carefully. Do you tend to think that you are doing quite well, and are self-righteous, so that you are unaware of your own flaws and weaknesses?
Do you tend to rely on your own abilities, or become prideful and self-satisfied because of the right choices you have made or the good deeds you have done?
As you journey toward attaining a fuller and more complete faith and hope, take time to assess your progress and identify any stumbling blocks along the way. In prayer, invite the Holy Spirit to help you.
Today’s Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, today’s reflection has shaken me and opened my eyes! I have realized that on my journey of faith and hope, I still have many blind spots! These blind spots have caused me to fall unknowingly into the temptation of pride, and even became self-satisfied… I feel truly ashamed.
I now see that there is still much I need to work on, and so much room for growth. I thank You for allowing me to recognize today that in the past, because of my self-righteousness, I have missed many opportunities You gave me to grow in virtue and holiness. Even more importantly, I missed moments of encountering You, moments when I failed to hear Your call and thus lost the chance to respond to You.
Please save me from a prideful and self-satisfied mindset. Help me to trust and rely on You wholeheartedly, so that I may not fall into the enemy’s trap due to my arrogance and ignorance, and hurt You as a result.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. From this moment on, I choose to trust and take refuge in You with all my heart!
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Thank you for participating in this 40-day Lenten spiritual journey. We hope you have been inspired and have benefitted from it! For the spiritual benefit of all of you, Fountain of Love and Life devotes a lot of time and effort in producing various spiritual projects every year, and all our ministries are sustained by the generous donations of our supporters. We hope you will support us with prayers and donations. Please make an online donation using the button at the top of the website Lent.FLL.cc. Thank you very much for your support. God bless!
The following is the “Farmer of Hearts: Finding Hope in God’s Kingdom” team, including FLL staff and volunteers.
Please kindly pray for them. May God protect them and sustain their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Writer: Paul Yeung
Project Manager: Michael Lam, Rosa Tse
Editors: Bonny Chan, Rosa Tse
English Editors: Bonny Chan, Paul Yeung
Mandarin Editor: Anthony X.
Cantonese Narrator: Margaret Woo
English Narrator: J. Johnson
Mandarin Narrator: C. Zhou
Audio Editors: Cyan Cheung, Sander Lee, Margaret Woo
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