A young monk came to a revered and ancient desert father and said, “I have sat in my cell. I have done all my spiritual exercises. What now?” The older monk raised up his hands and from the end of each finger came a flame. “Why not become entirely fire?” he said.

Jesus told the young man in today’s gospel reading that although he had kept all the rules and lived a virtuous life, he lacked one thing. That one thing was keeping him from fully entering into the kindom of God. For the young man it was his wealth. It might have been something else.

What is it that keeps you from becoming entirely fire?

What is it that keeps you from fully entering into the kindom of God?

These are not questions that most of us can answer quickly, sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning. They are questions that require prayer and soul searching.

I suggest you take one of the two questions and sit down with a piece of paper. Asking the Holy Spirit to guide you, write down your answer. Ask the same question again and once again write down your answer. Continue with this until when you ask the question there are no more answers.

Then ask the Holy Spirit to gracefully remove those blocks from your heart so that you may enter more fully into God’s grace and God’s presence.