Gospel of Luke, chapter 18:19

One day as I was walking outside on the church grounds, I met a youngster, about twelve years old, who was confused and a little disoriented. He seemed to be looking for something, but didn’t seem to know where to find it. “Can I help you?” I said. “What time is the funeral?” he asked with a worried expression on his face. “There’s no funeral today,” I told him, “but there is one tomorrow. Is that what you’re inquiring about?” The youngster got his days mixed up, and he felt embarrassed. “Have you had any breakfast?” I continued gently. Well, he hadn’t eaten anything, so I invited him to the rectory where the housekeeper made him breakfast.

While he was having breakfast, he told me how trying it was living in his neighborhood where the neighbors were always fighting. “What do you attribute that to?” I asked politely. “Everyone thinks they’re better than everyone else,” he said. “But no one is good or better than anyone else for only God is good.” Immediately, I thought of today’s scripture where the Lord asked the rich young man, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” If the people in the young man’s neighborhood understood this, as he had, perhaps they would have behaved more kindly towards each other and with more understanding of each other’s weaknesses.

Jesus understood that all true goodness came from God alone, so when He asked the rich young man “why do you call me good?” He was inquiring if he really knew who he was talking to. That he was talking to the source of goodness itself; namely, the Son of God.

Until you know who God is, you’ll never know who you are. That’s why Jesus would not let this young man get away with using the word “good” lightly. If Jesus is truly good, then Jesus is truly God. The young man walked away from Jesus sorrowful, because he put love of money above love of the “good.”

Today’s scripture lesson exposes our own inflated sense of importance. We are not as good as we think we are, and compared to Jesus, we’re no good at all.

The same question Jesus addressed to the rich young man can be addressed to you:

“Why do you call me good?”

Fr. Hugh Duffy

* * DO NOT MISS TOMORROW’S BLOG * *