Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of my favorite lines in Scripture appears in today’s Gospel.

The rich young ruler shows up and asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus gives him the commandments and the young man says he’s done these things.

Then comes that line that resonates with me, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “’You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’”

This is what real pastoral care often looks like—saying the hard thing when the “nice” or “warm” thing would be much easier. We often confuse “niceness” for love in the Church and in society. But deeper life together often means setting aside nice for the sake of love.

Some of the most loving conversations in my life have been the most challenging. They were ones in which hard things were said—things which were hard for me to hear certainly. Almost any change for the better in my life has come from knowing someone cared for me and because of that care they were willing to take the time and risk to say the hard thing. The discipline for many of us is to receive that hard thing, too.

Jesus doesn’t just excoriate or scold the man. Looking at him. Seeing him. He loves him enough to speak the truth. The man could never be a true disciple because what he truly loved would always get in the way.

I feel like I’ve heard that hard thing from Jesus myself, too many times. How many of us have failed to truly follow Christ for love of one thing or another? How many of us have sold all our possessions? How many of us give in sacrificial ways that say something of our faith? How many of us forgive 70 times 7 times? How many of us have our whole self, soul, and way of life shaped first and foremost as followers of Christ?

There are so many things we throw into the path, across the way, between us and Christ. Yet he’s always waiting for us to return. Always ready to say the hard thing when we’re ready to listen.

All of us need to hear that hard thing from Jesus. We all need reminders that what we too often love most in this world rarely loves us back nearly as much.

This is where Christ enters in. Seeing us. Loving us. He’s always asking us the hard question. What must we do to inherit eternal life?

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert