The Rich Young Man (Mark 10:16-18)
By Deacon Tony Martucci

(Printed in Deacon Digest, November/December 2006)

 “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

“‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'

“‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’

“Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ He said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’

“At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”

For all practical purposes this could be my story! Not that I am rich in the material sense, but that I was approached when I was younger with an offer that I turned down in favor of a “better life.”

I was a senior at St. Peter’s Prep, a Jesuit high school in Jersey City. I had been active in church related activities, attending weekday Masses, participating in First Friday devotions to the Sacred Heart, Rosary Club, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. One of the priest/counselors called me to his office and asked if I had ever considered a vocation to the priesthood. I answered that I had thought of it but that I wanted to get married and have a family.

Three years later, I met the woman I would marry. We would have five children and lived a rather ordinary life. We were not rich, but we were happy through the usual struggles of a middle class family. From time to time I would think of the question I had been asked and wondered how different things would be if I had made a different decision. I would not have traded all the joys and struggles that I had experienced with my family, still I felt I had been called to serve, but I had turned away. I was active in the parish as a lector, in Marriage Encounter, high school youth ministry and had even taken up the guitar to play at Mass in Church.

Vatican II called for the restoration of the Permanent Diaconate and shortly thereafter some people, deacons included, asked if I had thought about entering the ministry. Was I being given another opportunity? Was I being called to ministry? In 1975, I met with my pastor, Msgr. Everitt, and asked if he would sponsor me in the diaconate program. He said no, my children (ages 1 to 7 years old) were too young and if anything happened to my wife, I could not remarry and would have to care for them myself. I accepted his answer and waited.

Three years, and a fifth child later, I approached Msgr. Everitt again and asked him to sponsor me. Again he said no. This time because I was already so involved in parish life and the diaconate would require me to drop a lot of my activities. I was disappointed, but I accepted his answer again. Other deacons told me to come to their parishes because their pastors would welcome me. St. Mary of the Lake was my parish and I would wait until the door opened for me there.

In 1983, I again went to Msgr. Everitt with my request. “Why do you want to be a deacon,” he asked, “because your friend, Tom, is going to be ordained?” I had difficulty controlling myself. I had come years before Tom ever thought of being a deacon. Tom had nothing to do with my call. I answered, “I believe that I am being called to serve. I came eight years ago and you said ‘No.’ I came five years ago and you said ‘No.’ I have accepted your decision. I will wait if you say no again, but I will be back until you say yes.”

That night he agreed to sponsor me and the rest is, as they say, history. I felt like Saint Peter, after Christ’s resurrection when Christ asked him three times, “Do you love Me.” Like Peter I had denied Christ in turning down his call to me in high school. Like Peter I was given a second chance to follow Him.

Have you ever felt the call to service? It is not too late. There is plenty of work in the vineyard for those willing to follow. Speak to your pastor, one of the priests or deacons if you think you are being called to the priesthood or the diaconate.