Gospel (Mk 10,17-27) - At that time, while Jesus was walking along the road, a man ran to meet him and, kneeling before him, asked him: "Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?". Jesus said to him: «Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: "Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother". He then said to him, "Master, I have observed all these things from my youth." Then Jesus fixed his gaze on him, loved him and said to him: «You lack only one thing: go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; And Come! Follow me!". But at these words his face darkened and he went away saddened; in fact he owned many goods. Jesus, looking around him, said to his disciples: "How difficult it is for those who possess riches to enter the kingdom of God!". The disciples were disconcerted by his words; but Jesus continued and said to them: «Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." They, even more amazed, said to each other: "And who can be saved?". But Jesus, looking them in the face, said: «Impossible with men, but not with God! Because everything is possible with God."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

This evangelical passage is among those that have most marked the lives of many men and women who have begun to follow Jesus. It is a word that resonates strongly with our generation too. There are many people who "run" towards someone who can give happiness or who knows how to show the way. And it is often a race that ends in the desert or, worse, at the bottom of ravines. The man the Gospel speaks of ends that race by kneeling before Jesus. He calls him "good"; but Jesus corrects him: «Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." With this answer, which may seem exaggerated to us, Jesus ridicules the claim that we all have to feel good in conscience, to feel good. In truth it is an excuse not to change your heart and life. Even the Pharisee felt good and okay when he went to pray in the temple, but he went home as he had arrived, unforgiven by God. That man, in fact, had kept the commandments. And he could feel okay. But the believer's problem is not feeling okay, but rather following the Lord with humility and decision. Every day Jesus continues to "fix his gaze with love" on us so that we do not hold back the many riches that we have accumulated, which also weigh down our lives and slow down the following of the Gospel. That man, choosing for his riches, went away sad. Sadness is in fact often a consequence of selfishness. The true vocation of the disciple is to follow Jesus, to follow him and live as he lives. And to follow him our life cannot be tied to other riches.