HOMILY FOR 20TH TUESDAY ORDINARY TIME: YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “FOR MEN THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE , BUT FOR GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.”
BY: Bishop Anthony Ewherido
The rich young man in yesterday’s gospel went away sad because of the challenge to detach himself from his wealth for the sake of the kingdom. Today’s gospel underscores the consequences: it is “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” If we go literal, we lose the implication and meaning.
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Remember that the “eye of a needle” is a metaphor of difficulty, not impossibility. While that difficulty is humanly impossible, God’s grace makes all things possible. God’s grace only makes it possible for rich persons to connect to God by not enslaving themselves to wealth, material things, power, influence, fame, the work of their hands and their successes. Indeed, it is only by the grace of God that heaven becomes possible for any one of us because we all have something to protect, and quite often, to the point where it comes between God and us. Peter and co were not rich materially, but he was wowed by Jesus’ response and said: “Then who can be saved?” Jesus’ response to him shows that even the disciples, poor as they already were, still had more to let go of. So, the big question for us is: What is that one more thing that stands between my God/heaven and me? Jesus asks that we give it up and preserve our treasure in heaven.
Lord, free us for yourself and for the Father. Amen.
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