August 17, 2026 // Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 19:16-22

Reflect on the Word // 

I stared at the checklist on my phone, mentally calculating what still needed to get done before the day was over. School drop off? Check. Workout? Check. Grocery pick up order? Check.

As I scrolled through the list, a thought of awareness surfaced: I've been so busy doing things for God that I haven't actually been with Him today.

The rich young man in today's Gospel approaches Jesus with a sincere question: "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16) He wants to know what task remains unfinished, what box is left unchecked, what achievement will finally secure the life he longs for.

Jesus' response reveals something deeper. Eternal life is not something we earn through perfect performance. It is received through a relationship with God.

The young man's riches are measured by his earthly possessions, not by his love for God. His priorities are disordered. He assumes there is one more thing he can do to attain what only God can give.

When Jesus tells him to sell what he has, give to the poor, and follow Him, He requests more than a change in behavior. He invites the man to be sincerely transformed in mind and heart. The tragedy of the story is not that the man had many possessions. It is that he walked away from the One thing he truly needed.

I recognize myself in him. I can treat holiness like a project to manage rather than a Person to follow. Yet, Jesus continually invites me to loosen my grip on achievement, control, and self-reliance so that He can reorder my loves and make me new. Eternal life begins not in doing, but in following.

The Lord extends the same invitation to us. As we surrender whatever competes for first place in our hearts, He teaches us what true riches are. In following Him, we discover that eternal life is not earned by what we do, but received from the One Who calls us to become His own.

Relate to the Lord // Be with Jesus today. When, where, and how will you prioritize prayer today?