Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the saying, ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God’? I did a Google search on it and know less now than I did before. One widely disputed theory is that there was a gate or entry into Jerusalem that was so narrow that people entering that way had to completely unload their camels in order to enter. Whether or not this is true, it makes sense insofar as Jesus’ message in the Gospel. Must we not also unload ourselves of the unnecessary temporal burdens we have taken up in the name of personal security in order to enter the Kingdom of God?
Today's passage from the Gospel of Mark is the story of the Rich Young Man who comes to Jesus asking what he needs to do to attain eternal life. Jesus answers him telling him to sell many possessions and come follow Him. This was not what the man wanted to hear and he left feeling sad. Then Jesus tells his disciples, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” This can be very hard for us to hear. Thinking of how we have fallen short, how many things we cling to for security at times we can find ourselves feeling sad, too. But these tender words are also in this passage: “Jesus looking at him, loved him…” These words, buried in this story….easily overlooked...are the very crux of the story. As human creatures, created by the Loving God of Creation, we are each and every one of us deeply loved even in the midst of our failings, weaknesses, and shortfalls. And God never withdraws the invitation to love. The perfect love we are invited to participate in involves total sacrifice. Jesus Christ, in his human life demonstrates that this genuine love expresses itself only where we see genuine sacrifice. As St. Paul says, “ Blessed be God...in his great mercy gave us a new birth through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and invading…”. Jesus’ total sacrifice revealed that God loves us exactly where we are at this very moment and every moment of our existence.
The sacrificial love of Jesus is not predicated upon meeting expectations nor does it wax and wane with the circumstances of our lives here on earth. As human beings our faith may be strong one day and waver the next...it is difficult to always and at every moment have faith that God is so very near, so very involved, and so utterly in love with us in a uniquely intimate way at all times. Living our lives within this truth involves ongoing sacrifice on our part. It is an ongoing unloading of the ‘burdens’ we have accumulated which limit our ability to enter the Kingdom. Today, may our prayer be that God grant us the grace to shed some of our self imposed burdens. May we grow in our capacity to sacrifice as Jesus did.
- Gail Lyman