He eagerly ran up to Jesus.

He honored Jesus by calling him "Good Teacher."

He even knelt down before our Lord, to show his profound respect and admiration.

Obviously, this young man wanted to be accepted by Jesus as a disciple. But, unfortunately, he wanted this discipleship on his own terms. THAT proved to be his stumbling block, and that’s why he finally walked away.

He had first come to Jesus with what might be called the "key question" of our earthly existence: "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" You can’t get any more basic than that. Jesus answered him without any hesitation. In effect he said, "If you want to get to heaven, make sure you keep the commandments and avoid mortal sin." Notice he did not say, "All you have to do is confess me as Lord and believe in your heart that God the Father will raise me from the dead and you will be saved." Contrary to what many Fundamentalists and Evangelical Protestants teach, accepting the gift of salvation involves faith and obedience. Jesus makes that clear in this text. It’s not just a matter of coming forward during an altar call and "confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior."

But, amazingly, the rich young man had no difficulty with this particular word of challenge. Keeping the commandments had not been a major issue for him in his young life. "Teacher," he said, "All of these I have observed from my youth." If being accepted by Jesus were simply a matter of keeping the Decalogue, he could easily have reconciled himself to that. But our Lord knew that this boy was much too attached to the things of this world, such that he was in danger of losing his soul. Now please do not misunderstand: his problem was not that he was rich. Remember, Jesus had some very faithful disciples who were also wealthy people, like Joseph of Arimathea. The rich young man’s problem was that his possessions were "possessing him," as the old saying goes. This, of course, is something which can easily happen to those of us who have a great deal, which is why Jesus went on to say that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And by the way, I would say that this warning applies to most (if not all) of us, because here in the United States we have the highest standard of living in the world! Believe me, when you travel to another country as I did last week, you quickly realize just how good we have it here, and how many everyday comforts we take for granted in the good old U.S. of A.

So Jesus proceeded to issue the deeper challenge to the rich young man. In essence he said to him, "Look, following me--being my disciple--means coming to me on my terms, not yours! I love you just as you are, but too much to let you stay that way. You are much too attached to the things of this world, so renounce your selfishness and get rid of your possessions. Then you will be able to follow me as a true disciple."

As long as Jesus was willing to accept him on his own terms, the rich young man was more than willing to stick around. But as soon as Jesus issued this deeper challenge, and indicated what his terms for discipleship were, the young man took off.

Applying this now to ourselves: Am I trying to be a disciple of Jesus Christ on my terms, or on his terms? Ask yourself that question this morning.

What does it mean to follow the Lord on his terms? Well, obviously it involves giving up whatever in our lives is evil. That’s step one, and it’s non-negotiable. As our Lord said to the rich young man, "You know the commandments: thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, etc. Keep these." Of course, in our modern world this fact might not be so obvious to us. After all, we have public figures nowadays who love to call themselves "Christians," and parade around on Sundays with their Bibles in their hands, and who then go out on the other 6 days of the week and commit adultery, lie, and do everything they can to see to it that baby killing remains legal in our nation. That, by the way, is a perfect example of what it means to go to the Lord on your own terms. A very dangerous practice, to say the least--as some will no doubt discover on Judgment Day.

But following the Lord on his terms involves more than simply giving up evil, as the rich young man also discovered. Sometimes it may involve giving up things which are good. Many of you are parents. You should understand this truth very well. Think of all the time and personal recreation and relaxation (all good things) which you have given up over the years for the sake of your children. As a mother or father, and as a disciple of Jesus Christ, this was required of you, and you made the sacrifice.

In this regard, I also thought of our new deacon, Dean Perri. As most of you know, I was in Rome last week for Dean’s ordination at St. Peter’s--a pretty awesome place to have an ordination, to say the least! When I first met Dean several years ago, he was a young chemical engineer at Pfizer—having graduated with honors from U.R.I. a few years earlier—with a very promising future in that field. He also had a steady girlfriend, and at one point was close to getting engaged. We had many conversations during those early years of our friendship, and every once in a while the subject of "the future" would come up. At those moments, he would typically say something like this: "Fr. Ray, you know I love God and really want to serve him in my life; but I believe I’m called to do that as a married person out in the world. Not everyone is called to be a priest." I would typically respond, "Dean, you’re absolutely right. You need to do whatever it is God wants you to do. If it’s marriage and family life—great! Just make sure you’re a good Catholic husband and father, and that you always stay faithful to the teachings of the Church—even at work, where I know it’s not so easy." However, at some point along the way, Dean had another conversation: a conversation with Jesus Christ similar to the one the rich young man had with our Lord 2,000 years ago. I doubt it was an audible conversation, but it certainly took place in his heart. And he heard the Lord say, "Dean, you have given your life to me; you are striving to live the commandments. I am pleased. But you are lacking in one thing. Give up that job you like so much; give up your worldly ambitions; give up the thought of marriage and natural children; then come, follow me. You will have another family, spiritual children, and treasure in heaven." To his great credit, Dean said, "Yes." Like Fr. John Sistare, he agreed to follow Jesus on the Lord’s terms.

Now I realize there are those who think that saying "yes" to Jesus in this way brings sadness, because of what a person "gives up" in the process. But actually, the opposite is true! Sure, when we follow Jesus on his terms there may be certain crosses to bear (as you parents have experienced in sacrificing so often for your children), but deep down in the core of your being there is peace and there is joy, because you know that you are doing your best to carry out God’s perfect will in your life. Did you notice what it said about the rich young man after he said "no" to Jesus? It said, "He went away sad." I think that’s one of the most important lines in the story! Why should he have been sad?! He didn’t give anything up! He still had all his money; he still had all his property and livestock and possessions; he still had his titles and his earthly friends. He was sad, because deep down inside he knew he wasn’t doing the perfect will of the Lord. On the plane ride over to Rome, I was talking to Dean’s mother, and during the course of the conversation she said to me, "You know, Fr. Ray, Dean’s so happy now. He loves what he’s doing." That was good to hear, and it was a very good sign of the genuineness of his vocation.