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The One Thing You Lack
Where We Are
We enter Ordinary Time after Pentecost, the long green season of growth and discipleship. The Easter celebration has concluded, and now we settle into the daily rhythm of following Jesus. The weekday Gospel shifts to the evangelist Mark, who will be our companion for the coming weeks. Today we meet a man who has everything except the one thing that matters. First Peter opens as our weekday first reading, calling us to a living hope through the resurrection.
The Word
A man runs up to Jesus, kneels before him, and asks the great question: "Good Teacher, what shall I do, so that I may secure eternal life?" He has kept all the commandments since his youth. Mark adds a detail no other Gospel includes: "Jesus, gazing at him, loved him" (Mark 10:21). Then comes the devastating invitation: "One thing is lacking to you. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me." The man goes away grieving, for he has many possessions.
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Reflect
This encounter is remarkable for what it reveals about Jesus's gaze. Before he makes the hard request, he looks at the man with love. The invitation to let go is not a punishment or a test; it is an act of love. Jesus sees what is standing between this man and the life he is asking about, and he loves him enough to name it.
The man is not a villain. He is sincere, eager, and morally upright. He has kept the commandments. But his possessions have become his security, and security that is not rooted in God is a cage dressed as comfort. Jesus is not against wealth per se; he is against anything that occupies the place only God should hold.
The disciples are astonished: "Who, then, can be saved?" In their culture, wealth was a sign of God's blessing. If the blessed cannot enter the kingdom, who can? Jesus's answer shifts the ground entirely: "With men it is impossible; but not with God. For with God all things are possible." Salvation is not earned by letting go of possessions or by keeping commandments. It is a gift made possible by God's power, not human effort.
As we begin Ordinary Time, this reading invites us to ask: What is the one thing I lack? Not our moral failures, which we usually know, but the attachment we have not yet named. The thing we cannot imagine living without. That is where Jesus's loving gaze is directed today.
Living It
Ask Jesus today: "What is the one thing I lack?" Listen quietly. The answer may surprise you. It might not be money; it might be control, reputation, comfort, or a relationship you have made into an idol.
Practice one small act of letting go today. Give away something you value, whether money, time, or the need to be right. Notice how it feels to loosen your grip.
Remember that with God, all things are possible. Whatever you are facing today that feels impossible, whether change, forgiveness, or healing, entrust it to the One who makes all things possible.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you looked at the rich man with love, and you look at us the same way. Show us the one thing we lack. Give us courage to let go of whatever stands between us and you. We cannot save ourselves, but with you, all things are possible. Help us follow you with open hands and willing hearts. Amen.
Today's reflection draws from Mark 10:17-27 and 1 Peter 1:3-9 (CPDV), per the Ordo Lectionum Missae.
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