At the word of the Lord, when the prophet Ezekiel’s wife dies he does not go through the usual rituals of mourning. When the people see this they ask, “Will you not tell us what all these things that you are doing mean for us?” How typical of human beings — instead of reaching out to see what is going on in Ezekiel’s life, the people are concerned about themselves. Isn’t that the symptom Jesus is trying to correct in the rich, young man who wants to be perfect? Instead of focusing on yourself and what you are going through, Jesus tells him, look at what other people are going through. Doing something for others, for the poor, is the path to find God.
