The text above presents us with three things that we should think about and make a decision about: the first concerns the question of “someone”

 The text above presents us with three things that we should think about and make a decision about: the first concerns the question of “someone”: “Good Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?”. First of all, it is important to point out that this someone, who has no name, is anyone who has the desire to conquer life according to God; he or she who wants to go further, who feels the desire for God within him or her and sets out on the path, but at the same time needs true guidance. Then, the adjective “good”, applied only to God, because it refers to the very essence of God, which is goodness, truth and life. Things and people can be seen as good, but in relation to the Creator, who is the GOOD and who, for this very reason, makes everything good or very good. Jesus does not deny himself this adjective, since He calls Himself the GOOD SHEPHERD. Next, the term “master”, used here, with the purpose of revealing the true path to salvation. In this case, by calling Jesus “Good Teacher,” the text points to His divine condition, including the gesture of this “someone” kneeling down.

The second point concerns the requirements for becoming a disciple of Jesus. It is necessary to practice the Lord’s Commandments. It is important to note that the emphasis is not on social issues, that is, on practicing God’s Law in view of good coexistence and social structure. The question is precise: “What must I do to conquer eternal life?” Furthermore, another detail is that the text does not mention the Commandments related to God, but only to our neighbors. This does not mean that Jesus is abandoning some commandments, but acting in such a way as if He wanted to say that the Commandments related to God can only be lived if His disciples put into practice the good of others. Turning to God while neglecting others is false religion, it is subjectivism, individualism, and also fanaticism. In loving our neighbors, we simultaneously reveal our love for God. Disciples need to turn to the Lord not only through faith, but also, and precisely, through the exercise of charity and the defense of life. In a whole dedicated life, we find characteristics such as availability, solidarity and fraternity, indispensable virtues in the life of faith. “Jesus looked at him with love…”. This loving look may be linked to the fact that this person is fulfilling the Commandments of the Law of God. This is what I point out to those who, before all else, must put what is God’s first, adhere to the will of the Lord, do what He asks. This is how all disciples and those who will also become disciples of Jesus should act. In this third point, typical of the text of Mark, the basis of the first two, we can find, so to speak, total detachment. Jesus demands absolute surrender, a firm and complete decision. Before pointing out the last requirement, Jesus looks at the one who has approached him and loves him without reservations. The verb “to gaze” is the same as looking at the other person very carefully, prioritizing them, taking them into account, reading them from within. Jesus loves them, that is, He finds in them the right intention, the sincere desire, the opposite of the hypocritical Pharisees, the will to win, and justice before the Law, since he is an authentic Jew, but at the same time, He perceives their weakness. It is at this moment that Jesus expresses His deepest demand: “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me!” What Jesus wants goes beyond the logic of the world, it does not even seem of this world, it is something absolutely unusual in history. It is the same thing that He demands of His disciples. It is important to emphasize that Jesus, even knowing the weaknesses of the other person, does not abandon them in His heart, does not judge them, but loves them. In other words, the way to evangelize, to carry out the salvific mission, can only happen when love is at the center, making the connection between one and the other. The Word that is proclaimed will not reach the heart of another if it is not guided by love, which is necessary in the evangelizing mission. If the other does not listen to the announcement made, at least he will keep in his mind the loving way in which the one who proclaimed the Word acted, and this will count in his future. How is it possible to renounce a lifetime of struggle, personal achievements, one’s own dreams, and the wealth acquired just to follow a “master,” someone who can not only engage an audience with his ideas, but, in fact, bring down the entire “empire” of the tyrannical logic of the world? The heart of man is crushed by Jesus’ proposal, the heart attached to the material world is saddened. Only through great faith, in something extremely superior to everything, will man be able to make such a change. Here is the great requirement for those who wish to be disciples: to be able to believe in Jesus not only as a Master, a spiritual Guide, a great man, the greatest of the prophets, but much more than that, it is necessary to believe in HIM as Lord, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This faith only became possible with

How is it possible to give up a lifetime of struggle, personal achievements, one’s own dreams, and acquired wealth just to follow a “master,” someone who can not only engage an audience with his ideas, but actually bring down the entire “empire” of the tyrannical logic of the world? Man’s heart breaks when faced with Jesus’ proposal; the heart attached to the material world becomes sad. Only through great faith, in something extremely superior to everything, will man be able to make such a change. Here is the great requirement for those who wish to be disciples: to be able to believe in Jesus not only as a Master, a spiritual Guide, a great man, the greatest of the prophets, but much more than that; it is necessary to believe in HIM as Lord, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This faith only became possible with the Resurrection. Helping others is important, but it must be done with absolute belief in the Lordship of Jesus, in His divinity. In this text, after Jesus speaks of the difficulty of those who have everything to enter the kingdom of heaven, Peter reflects: “Behold, we have left everything and followed you.” Was Peter thinking about the spiritual and desert reality of the life given? Certainly not, but he was there launching himself into the horizon of the Master of Nazareth. He and the others, with their imperfections, immature faith, and rudeness, were able to truly leave behind what they had. It is true that it was not that much, but it was their everything. Peter perhaps wanted to assure himself before God, perhaps to show his reality of being close to the Savior. The fact is that, regardless of his attitude, he placed himself on the Lord’s side, turned toward Him.

“Truly I tell you, whoever has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, FOR MY SAKE AND THE GOSPEL’S, will receive a hundred times as much now in this life—home or brothers or sisters or mother or children or fields, with persecutions—and in the world to come, ETERNAL LIFE. Jesus establishes that those who abandon material ties, including family, will receive a new reality, eternal life, and a new family, structured on the values ​​of the gospel, such as fraternity and sharing of goods, as well as a hundred times more than what they have renounced. In other words, they will receive in abundance! But He adds: they will receive all this, but with persecution. They will be persecuted by the greedy, by those who sacrifice everything they have to have even more, to satisfy all their desires and promises, be they businessmen, landowners and, mainly, corrupt politicians, and also men and women who, in the name of their own vile interests, fight for the distortion of Christian morality. The disciple must be prepared for a world hostile to truth, love and life. As for married people, Jesus does not preach the irresponsible abandonment of the family. They certainly should not abandon those who were given to them as true gifts. The husband is a gift from God, just as the wife is and as are the children. In this situation, what should we do in light of the Word of God? The Gospel makes it clear that nothing and no one can be considered absolute and the reason for anyone’s existence. Those who cling to creatures will perish with them. A family is built when parents turn, first and foremost, to God and, because of Him, to the legitimate education of their children to follow Jesus Christ himself. In that home, everyone should be concerned about one another in view of communion with God. Otherwise, those who want to follow another path, conceiving of family as reasons for life, sin and there will be no conditions for true following of the Savior. The fact is that in order to build an authentic Christian family, it is necessary to let go of everything that impedes the gift of faith, solidarity, humility and self-giving for the good of others; it is necessary to renounce oneself in order to live the gift desired by the Lord. In the renunciations mentioned by Jesus, He also includes the father, but when He receives a hundred times more, He does not mention the earthly father again. Certainly, the greatest wealth for those who follow Him is the achievement of communion with His Father, the eternal Father, the Father of the new family, He who is a Father in creating, in educating in truth and hope, and, above all, in loving to the point of giving His eternal Son as a victim of atonement for the good of all. Only those who are capable of freeing themselves from all worldly ties, from the attachments of life, from everything that deprives them of the true freedom of a child of God will be part of this new reality; those who do not submit to the logic of money, profit, worldly goods, or disordered emotional involvements will live as Christians. A true Christian will be he or she who adheres absolutely to Christ, basing his or her entire life on the Gospel, making a true gift of himself or herself, in detachment from everything for the good of all.