"Jesus was setting out on a journey," are the opening words of today's Gospel. That journey, of course, is the Way to Jerusalem and all that means for Jesus, and it is also the context for today's story. A man comes up to Jesus asking what he should do to gain eternal life. In reply, Jesus quotes from the Ten Commandments, although he only mentions those commandments which speak of how we treat other people. The man says he has kept them from his youngest days. Then, says Jesus, there is just one thing he lacks - to rid himself of his wealth, share it with the needy and follow Jesus (on the road to Jerusalem). Instead, the man went away sad. And so Jesus said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!" On hearing these words the disciples were shocked. For them wealth was a sign of God's blessings. If the rich cannot be saved, then who can be saved, they asked.

Jesus is turning things upside down, for it is not wealth alone that becomes a sign of God's presence in one's life. The true sign is when one shares what he/she has (much or little) with others. Life is not about how much one can get but how much one can give. The world of the Kingdom of God is where everyone gives, everyone gets. Is this the world we live in? If not, the Kingdom of God on earth has yet to come. What am I doing about it?