The rich young ruler had come asking, “What must I do to live a good life, to inherit eternal life?” I've pursued this my whole life to be good and happy. And how do I do that? And Christ underscores that, you know, the basis of all of this is to live this moral life that's been written about in the commandments. And the rich young ruler says, well, I've done everything:

I've been good. I've kept the law. I've kept the requirements.

My behavior is in line. And Christ said, well, but to really know the fullness of life, to really have an authentic, a good relationship—and Augustine would say goodness and happiness are the same thing—to really know that is to follow me, is to have a friendship, an intimate relationship with me—that's not the results of keeping all the rules and regulations.

It's not the result of achieving something: it's receiving. It's receiving, for me, that which truly brings goodness and life and happiness to you. And as long as you're depending on your own success, it's not just about money.

As long as you're depending on your own ability and your money represents the fact that you're trusting in yourself to accomplish all this, then this can't happen. It's truly the same for us today, right? As long as we think we can achieve these things, find this happiness in whatever, we'll never quite get there. And the disciples, they go, well, we've done it.

And he said, well, don't be too envious of this, right? In some ways, it's the story of the prodigal son out chasing after his own happiness with his own funds. And this rich young ruler walks away. It speaks to you and I today, as long as we're chasing after something on our own and not dependent upon Christ himself, that true happiness and goodness and peace in life is unattainable. It is about turning and returning and following and letting go of those things that we have found our dependence in.

So apropos today. May we ourselves let go of those things we're trusting in and just follow the Christ. Amen.