From The Bishop

The Gospel for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time offers a thoughtful reflection on the relationship between mercy and truth. In St. Mark’s Gospel we see Jesus in dialogue with a man who asked what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to follow the commandments. When the man informed the Lord that he was already doing this since his youth, Jesus said, “You lack one thing; go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me”. We are told that that Jesus’ words greatly disturbed the man and he went away grieving. Jesus did nothing to stop him. Was Jesus being merciful to this man? Some may think that in the name of mercy the request should have been modified in order to make it less demanding. Jesus could have asked the man to sell only half or a quarter of his belongings or to simply become a follower with no demands. Jesus did not do this because he had to proclaim the truth. Mercy can never be offered at the expense of truth; if it were, then it would not be mercy. Jesus had to teach this man that there is a cost to discipleship. Jesus shared the truth with the man and in this way he was being very merciful.