Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Well, the readings this week are certainly…. cheery! First, we see God threaten and ultimately punish the prince of Tyre for believing himself to have become a god. Then in the Gospel, Jesus tells us that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. Personally, I can barely get a thread through the eye of a needle, so that’s more than a little concerning. Seeking some solace, I turned to the responsorial psalm. The psalm response? “It is I who deal death and give life” – lovely!
Reflecting on these readings, I am struck by an immediate central theme – pride. The prince of Tyre thinks he’s a hotshot. He’s immensely wise, he’s made good trade deals, and he has a huge bank account. As far as worldly power, he pretty much has everything you could ask for! Unfortunately for him and his people, he makes a leap and decides that his power is derived not from God, but from some divine nature that he possesses. He is, notably, not divine, and is appropriately struck down by God, who is divine.
The responsorial psalm tells a similar story. I am particularly struck by the second stanza – “[They say] ‘Our own hand won the victory; the LORD had nothing to do with it.’ For they are a people devoid of reason, having no understanding“ (Deut 32:27-28). Again, we are reminded through the psalm response that it is God who deals death and gives life – these things are NOT done by us alone.
Finally, we arrive at the Gospel, and Jesus’ image of fitting a camel through the eye of a needle. When I think about Jesus and the rich, I think immediately of this story, and the parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21). In both, we are reminded of a very simple reality – those of us who have an abundance of something are likely to want to horde it, and when we do so, we begin to rely more on it (or ourselves, like the prince of Tyre) than on God.
We’re fortunate that this is one of those rare instances where Jesus elaborates on what he says beyond his initial teaching. Immediately after discussing the rich, Jesus shares what I believe to be the lynchpin of today’s readings. He tells us, “[E]veryone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life” (Mt 19:29). I wonder if, when Jesus tells us this, he’s not actually all that concerned about the direct fact of how much money a person has. It seems that he’s more interested in the how and why of those possessions, and I think the rest of today’s readings reinforce that line of thinking.
With all of this in mind, we have to take into account the change that Jesus is calling us to make. I myself am no millionaire. But I certainly have done, received, or earned different accomplishments throughout my life. When those happen, who gets the glory? More relevant to the readings today, who should get the glory? Like the prince of Tyre, or the people devoid of reason in the psalm, or the rich camel trying to fit through some sewing implements, I believe that my achievements are my own, and in doing so, I fail to recognize that nothing I do should be for my glory, but for God’s.
Today, let us remember who we owe homage to when we achieve something. Let us remember that we are wholly reliant on God, and that it is only through him, not our selves, that anything is possible to begin with!
-Marty Bagatti