Rich Young Men and Women

Ateneo graduations remind me of the story of the rich young man who approached Jesus asking "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?".

At first Jesus' reply was for the young man to follow the commandments. But the young man said he was already doing so.

So Jesus looked at the young man with love and told him to sell everything he had and follow Jesus. The young man left, his heart full of sadness.


I remembered this, of course, because the Ateneo graduates a lot of rich young men and women. Not all of them are rich, of course, but quite a number are.

And so in this season of graduation, what would I want to say to these rich young men and women? I would speak to them of this story of the rich young man.


First, and this is something my wife pointed out to me, Jesus looked at the rich young man with love. Jesus loves rich young men and women as much as he (also) had a preferential option for the poor. In fact if we read the Gospels carefully, we see that Jesus hung out with the rich. Ex. the tax collectors (including Matthew), Zaccheus, Nichdemus.

I don't know if all the talk about serving the poor drowns out that foundational experience of God's personal love for everyone, including rich young men and women.


Second, not everyone is called to sell all their things, give the money to the poor and follow Jesus (if by following Jesus, we mean entering into religious life). In Matthew's version Jesus tells the young man, "If YOU wish to be perfect". In Mark's version, Jesus tells the young man, "YOU are lacking in one thing".

In both versions, the you is not a generic you but refers specifically to the rich young man. I do not think we can even think of the "rich young man" as a sociological category but a particular rich young man with his own name and history. Sort of like, "If you, Leland, wish to be perfect" or "You, Leland, are lacking in one thing".

In other words, the call is always personal. And by way of proof, let me point out (as my wife pointed out to me) that there was another man, possessed by demons whom Jesus cured and that man asked Jesus for permission to be a disciple and Jesus said no. Jesus encountered many people along the way but not everyone was called to leave everything and follow him.


And this is why I am wary of "generic" vocations. The assumption, for example, that the path to holiness is necessarily through the priesthood, through development work (those of you really familiar with development work would probably know how funny it sounds to associate development work with holiness), through teaching or any other "noble" vocation.


It is tougher for us today, of course, because unlike the rich young man, we cannot just interrupt Jesus' journey and ask him what our call is. I have personally found that Ignatian retreats does wonders for helping to clarify what might be asked from me today.


The other note I want to make about these personal calls is that they often have to do with personal growth and ridding ourselves of what Ignatius calls inordinate attachments, things which prevent us from fully responding to our personal call. (I just realized we hardly ever talk about inordinate attachments in the Loyola Schools). In the case of the rich young man, clearly, the attachment is to wealth.

For other people, it may be other things. For some, maybe a sense of social and financial security. For some, maybe a sense of being able to do great things. For some, it may be an inordinate attachment to ideas or emotions (not letting go of anger, for example) Lately, I've realized that even noble goals like alleviating poverty and nation-building can become inordinate attachments.

On that note, Jesus might as well have also said, how hard it is for those who seek social and financial security to enter the kingdom of heaven! How hard it is for those who are inordinately attached to noble goals like alleviating poverty and nation-building to enter the kingdom of heaven!


When it is re-told, the story of the rich young man usually ends there, and the reference to the camel and the eye of the needle pops up.

But that is not the end of the story! It might not even be the moral of the story. The punchline of the gospel comes when the disciples ask, then who can be saved? (a question whose sense of perplexity can only be appreciated if we don't limit ourselves to rich people)

And Jesus replies: For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible. That is the punchline. Or as the Jesuits say, everything is grace, everything is God's gift.


Overcoming inordinate attachments, recognizing our personal vocation, experiencing God's personal love. All these things seem impossible or unimaginable but the moral of the story is that everything is grace.


The rich young man was on the right track, interrupting Jesus' journey impetuously asking Jesus how to inherit eternal life. But he failed in two ways beyond failing to sell everything and follow Jesus.

First he failed to ask for the grace of strength to do what was asked of him.

Second, and more importantly, as he was absorbed with what Jesus said, he probably didn't notice that Jesus was looking at him with love.

Leland Dela Cruz

September 2010

The Act of Blessing Others

The Lord said to Moses, “ Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them:

The Lord bless you and keep you!

The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!

The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!

So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them”.

- Numbers 6:22-27

(I wrote these prayer points for six friends who were part of a prayer group of which I was the prayer guide. Numbers 6:24-26 was always our closing prayer. We had a mini-reunion because one of our friends will soon become an overseas professional. Of the six, 2 are married, 1 is engaged, 1 will soon be engaged, and 2 are in relationships)

1. I remember thinking at some point that the prayers for a couple at marriage are not prayers that end along with the end of the sacrament but a promise to continue praying for the couple and with the couple throughout their married life, for God to continuously shower them with His blessings, especially as the marriage matures. We might even say that the prayer for a couple is a prayer we ought to pray even before the couple gets married (as soon as they are engaged perhaps or when it seems likely that they will get married even before they are formally engaged?) But as I’ll point out later on, the prayer for a married couple or a couple approaching marriage can also be a prayer for all of our friends and their relationships.

2. I remember at some point I stopped bowing my head and asking for God’s blessings when the priest tells us to do so at the end of mass. I figured, even if we don’t ask for it, God is giving us and itching to give us his blessings. The only question is if we (recognize and) are prepared to receive his blessings. But of course preparedness to receive God’s blessings is also a product of his grace so whatever the priest says I should ask for, I end up asking for a simple blessing: that God grant me the openness to receive the graces He most wants to give me and that God help me recognize the blessings He is giving me. (of course asking in itself contributes to openness. Beg for graces, as the Jesuits say)

I suppose this can also be the grace we ask for married couples, those who are engaged and those who are about to be engaged: that they be granted the openness to receive the graces God most wants them to receive.

3. It is in this regard that Numbers 6:24-26 can be read not just as a prayer for an individual but as a prayer for a couple: May the Lord bless and keep your marriage/ your engagement/ your relationship. May the Lord let his face shine upon your marriage/ your engagement/ your relationship and be gracious to you. May the Lord look kindly upon your marriage/ your engagement/ your relationship and give your marriage/ your engagement/ your relationship peace.

4. This act of blessing a relationship, of course, is not limited to married/ about to be married couples but to all relationships. We can pray for the relationship between (us as) children and (us as) parents. We can pray for the relationship between siblings. We can pray for the relationship between friends. We can even pray for the relationship between a person and their work. Playing with one of my favorite quotes from Anthony de Mello (Behold God beholding you and smiling), we can pray that we may truly feel what it means when we say, “Behold God beholding your relationship and smiling”.

5. One final note on the act of blessing: One person I know said: “Di ko na masyado gets yung point ng "please pray for me" or "I'll include you in my prayers”. I’ve always thought that specific prayers for an other aren’t magic formulas that have instantaneous effects. Again, I’d rather go for a generic, I’ll pray for your openness to receive the grace God is itching to give you now.

But I think one thing praying for others does is that it inclines our hearts ever so slightly to that other, it is an emotional deposit on our relationship with that other.

One sermon about Numbers 6 that I found on the internet pointed out that God was ordering Moses to order Aaron to bless the Israelites. If seen in the light of making emotional deposits in our relationships to one another, then the act of praying for one another, the act of praying for blessings for each other, is a fulfillment of the greatest commandment of them all, that we should love one another.

As we pursue our respective vocations, may we continue praying and wishing blessings upon each other and in that spirit grow in communal affection.