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| Duccio's "Jesus calling Peter and Andrew" |
But he wants to know: what else should he do? And Jesus recognizes the potential for spiritual greatness within him and says: Go, sell what you have and follow me.
Sadly, this person couldn’t give up what he had. He couldn’t see the potential for spiritual greatness within himself, to follow Christ.
Yes, the so-called “good life” didn’t seem to satisfy him. He wanted to live for something more, for someone greater than himself. This is indeed the quest of many people.
Among the books Viktor Frankl authored is “Man’s Search for Meaning.” In prewar Vienna, Frankl had a wife, two children, a good psychiatric profession and a comfortable home. But as an inmate at the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, just outside of Munich, Germany, Frankl lost every earthly thing he treasured – family, profession, home.
These losses brought him face-to-face with the fundamental questions of human life: What should I be living for? What is my purpose?
Frankl discovered that people could put up with incredible hardships without losing their serenity and respect for others, provided they saw that these hardships had some ultimate meaning.
In their hearts, people yearn for something or someone beyond themselves that can give greater meaning and greater value to their lives.
Jesus in the Gospel recognized the potential for spiritual greatness in the young man, and when asked, gave him a pathway. But the man walked away.
I hope that each one of us recognizes and supports the potential for greatness within one another. And I hope that recognition will compel us to try, as best we can, to help one another to realize the incredible potential for good that we all have.
