The Abandonment

In today's gospel, there's a reminder for us to leave what we truly desire so that we can follow Christ. It's called the abandonment, and its not easy. We hear in the gospel, a young man who asks the Lord what he has to do to obtain the Kingdom of God. Right away the Lord tells him to follow the commandments, but what is interesting his Jesus' focus on the those commandments that have to do with our neighbor. The young man said to the Lord, "I have observed all of these, what else do I lack?" Jesus tells him to sell what he has and give to the poor. The interesting part for me is at once, the young man walked away sad because he knew he had many possessions. The sense of abandonment can be hard for us and as we read, even for the young man. Jesus tell us that it is not so much of leaving the things we love, but recognizing what it is that keeps us from Him. What consumes you in your life, your phone, computer, relationships, these things can keep us from God in terms of time and so Jesus calls us in the gospel to abandon those things and let go of what really keeps us from Him.The joy is that in this abandoment of possessions, there is true happiness because we learn and train our hearts that God is worthy of all our time and all our possession.   

Jesus, help me to recognize those things that keep me from you, and give me strength so that I can look past those possessions and seek the cross. I give you permission to take away those things that keep me from knowing.