Oscar Wilde once said that a fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.  As so often a witty saying can convey a profound truth – the truth presented to us by today’s readings.  In our first reading the author of the Book of Wisdom – words placed on the lips of King Solomon – is given the gift of wisdom.  Solomon was the wealthiest King of Israel – the Queen of Sheba came in wonder to his court and to admire the temple he built – yet he says, “I esteemed her [Wisdom] more than sceptres and thrones; compared with her, I held riches as nothing.”  By contrast the young man in the Gospel comes with good intentions – “Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” – but the price of wisdom is for him too great.  He will not give up his worldly possessions in order to follow the Lord.  Jesus comments, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”  How do we measure what is most important in life?