The Secret to Eternal Life
(Wis.7:7-11; Heb.4:12-13; Mk.10:17-30)
Most people don’t like the idea of dying; they would much rather live forever.
That is why so many pharaohs, philosophers and alchemists through the ages tried searching for the secret to eternal life.
The Greek historian Herodotus once wrote about a fountain of youth someone had found in Africa. Alexander the Great looked for it, but he died young, aged only 32.
In China, the emperor Qin asked his doctors for a potion to prolong his life. They gave him mercury pills, but they turned out to be poisonous.
And today, some scientists are experimenting with cryogenic freezing and rejuvenating body cells. However, all this fascination with immortality ignores the eternal life that Jesus talks about in Mark’s Gospel today.
A rich young man has decided that he’d like to live forever, so he approaches Jesus, asking: ‘Master, what must I do to earn eternal life?’
Jesus replies, ‘Sell all you have, give the money to the poor and come follow me, for then you’ll have treasure in heaven.’
That price is much too high, the young man thinks, and he goes away sad. He just can’t let go of his possessions.
About 250 years later, St Anthony of Egypt heard this story. He was another rich young man but his response was very different.
Anthony and his sister were raised on a large estate near present-day Cairo. Their parents died when Anthony was 20, and he inherited their wealth.
However, he actually listened to Jesus, and like St Francis of Assisi after him, he sold everything.
He gave the money to the poor, leaving just enough to support his younger sister. Then he became the disciple of a monk, learning how to live a life of poverty, prayer and meditation. He also supported himself by working as a swineherd.
Over the next 15 years, Anthony suffered many physical and spiritual hardships, but he overcame them and then he moved into an abandoned Roman fort deep in the desert.
He loved his solitude, but other hermits heard about him and started moving into nearby caves and huts. They begged him to share his wisdom and holiness, and to be their spiritual guide.
At first Anthony refused, but later he agreed. And when the other monks finally met him, they expected that he’d look hungry and emaciated, but he actually looked fine, in both mind and body.
Anthony taught and organised these monks, and he supported victims of Roman persecution. But deep down he yearned for a quiet life of prayer, and after six years he moved again, spending his last 45 years in a desert cave.
Emperor Constantine once wrote to St Anthony, asking for his prayers. He wrote back, telling the emperor and his sons not to put their faith in this world but to remember the next.
St Anthony tempted by gold
Today, St Anthony of Egypt is remembered as the father of Christian monasticism. And we know that he achieved everlasting life, not because of his money or talents, but because he faithfully followed Jesus.
Today, many people would like to know the secret to eternal life. Well, it’s not by preserving our bodies in dry ice or uploading our minds to a technological cloud. It’s by listening to Jesus who today gives us three simple steps to follow:
Firstly, keep God’s commandments. This is how you start building a life of love, focussed on God and your neighbour – because love is what it’s all about.
Secondly, be prepared to give up your possessions, your pleasure, your power and your pride. These are all empty distractions that steal your time and drain your energy. Jesus is not expecting you to live in poverty, but he does want you to let go of your false gods. He wants your life to be much simpler.
And thirdly, learn to follow Jesus himself. Give your heart to Jesus. Allow him to guide you and fill you with his graces. Let Jesus shape your life.
It has been said that we are all on the train of life, hurtling towards our destination at what seems an ever-increasing speed.
But most people don’t seem to give any thought as to where this train is heading. Why? Are we so preoccupied with the baggage, the amusements and the distractions along the way that we don’t have time to think?
Or could it be that, like the young man who approached Jesus, we’ve found it too risky to ask such questions?’ [i]
Today, it’s time to stop being tranquillised by the trivial, and start remembering our immortal souls.
It’s Jesus who has the secret to eternal life.
[i] Flor McCarthy, New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies, Year B, Dominican Press, Dublin, 2017:336.