In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the question addressed to our Lord, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Fr. Micah points out that this is the question humans have struggled with for centuries, because it addresses our great enemy: death.
Jesus responds with enigmatic words, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God.” Fr. Micah explains that, instead of saying that he is less than the Father or not God, Jesus is saying that he is the goodness of God.
The philosophers too struggled with the question of death, and they concluded that if there is a way past this impasse of death, it must be goodness, it must be beauty, and it must be the truth. When we hear the Gospel accounts, containing the words Christ spoke, we discover that the true goodness, beauty, and truth was the one speaking those words.
But how do we experience his goodness, beauty, and truth? Fr. Micah explains that in the sacraments, we, "taste and see that the Lord is good."
In addition, near the end of the Divine Liturgy, we hear the hymn that says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever.” Fr. Micah explains that both through our words and the way in which we live, we can bless the name of him who is the good, the beautiful, and the true.