Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday of the 20th week in ordinary time, August 18, 2025

Delivered by Andrew and Shendy Jost from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Judges 2: 11-19; Rs psalm 106: 34-35.36-37.39-40.43ab.44; Matthew 19: 16-22.TO BECOME PERFECT The title for our meditation today is:To Become Perfect. The ideal or hope to be perfect is part of human nature.Each of us wants to have, to do and to produce the best that we can. In thisworld the desire to be perfect is so much and diverse from one to anotherand  it never stops. From these all, Godassures us that the perfect we all want in this world is not enough. All willdisappear along with our death. So God provides the "eternal life"that exists with Him in heaven as a total and final perfection for those whoare saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. To get there in heaven, the mostimportant condition is death. But this means that as long as we live in theworld we should long for it and prepare for its coming. One way to desire it isto make it the main hope when we pray and ask for. One way we prepare it is byliving in obedience and fidelity in the the way of Jesus Christ, our Teacher.We long and prepare it not only when we are in difficult or sad situations, butalso when we are successful and happy. The way to perfection is the way ofthe cross of Jesus Christ. It is not easy for us humans to immediately acceptit with all our sincere hearts. Usually we react to reject or avoid the way ofthe cross and suffering. It is not easy for us to supress our own desires orinterests. After Joshua's death, it turned out that the desire of the people ofIsrael was very strong to worship idols. There were no more great persons likeMoses and Joshua to stop them. They chose to worship other gods and not the Godof their fathers. The idols that are very much worshipedtoday are money or wealth. The choice of treasure in this world begins from thehearts of men. Where the human heart is, there is the treasure. This is theproblem of the young man in the gospel of today. His heart is attached to theworld's possessions such as money and goods. The Lord Jesus wants that he shouldfree himself from worldly possessions and follow the way of His cross. Godwants to substitute all those possessions with Himself. Because when onepossesses only the Lord, Jesus assures us, he or she already has everythingboth here on earth and the hereafter.  The advantages of having Jesus as ouronly treasure are the following: 1) we are not sad or regret for all that wegive up in this world; 2) the orientation or direction of our hearts is tofollow Jesus (hear His voice, see His simplicity and live His style) with thegoods of the world as supporting elements; 3) Staying with Jesus brings us anexperience of the perfection that we desire. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us to always make Yourself our onlytreasure, so that we experience that perfection in our lives. Glory to theFather and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...