I heard a piece of music for the first time the other day that touched me with its quiet beauty. Because of it, I began to recall the “music of the soul” in my life.
In the 19th chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a young man who professes to live out the most important commandments. This is Jesus’ first recommendation to reaching eternal life. But even after affirming that he doesn’t kill, steal, commit adultery, bear false witness, and that he honors his father and mother and loves his neighbor as himself, Jesus reveals the innermost mansions. Somehow the young man knows that he hasn’t yet done everything that he can to obtain eternal life. There is something more. Jesus at first only recounts the commandments that relate to other people, not to God.