Today's Gospel is perhaps a good preparation for Lent which begins this week. As we 'set out on a journey', the young man's question and Jesus' answer remind us of some fundamental things: the purpose of life, God's instructions for living a good life, and Jesus' invitation to live more generously, beyond laws and commandments, in a spirit of love and sharing with others. Fundamental questions of who or what we really trust in, rely on, believe in. Of course we know, in our heads, that it's only God who can give us fullness of life and the fulfillment of life. Yet in our hearts there's often a notion that it's somehow possible to "earn" it. The young man thought so: and Jesus' disciples were quite scandalized and astonished at His insistence on how difficult it is for those with wealth to enter the kingdom: "Then who can be saved?" As if to say that we all trust in something of our own to help us.

May our prayers and activities in this coming time of Lent be praise and thanks to the God "for whom all things are possible," who looks on us with love and invites us to a free following of Jesus.