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“St. Bernard” (detail)
by Georg Andreas Wasshuber, 1700s |
Readings for Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
Readings and Commentary: [3]
Reading 1: Ezekiel 28:1-10
The word of the Lord came to me: Son of man,
say to the prince of Tyre:
Thus says the Lord God:
Because you are haughty of heart,
you say, “A god am I!
I occupy a godly throne
in the heart of the sea!”—
And yet you are a man, and not a god,
however you may think yourself like a god.
Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,
there is no secret that is beyond you.
By your wisdom and your intelligence
you have made riches for yourself;
You have put gold and silver
into your treasuries.
By your great wisdom applied to your trading
you have heaped up your riches;
your heart has grown haughty from your riches–
therefore thus says the Lord God:
Because you have thought yourself
to have the mind of a god,
Therefore I will bring against you
foreigners, the most barbarous of nations.
They shall draw their swords
against your beauteous wisdom,
they shall run them through your splendid apparel.
They shall thrust you down to the pit, there to die
a bloodied corpse, in the heart of the sea.
Will you then say, “I am a god!”
when you face your murderers?
No, you are man, not a god,
handed over to those who will slay you.
You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of foreigners,
for I have spoken, says the Lord God.
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Commentary on Ez 28:1-10
This selection from Ezekiel is the first of two back-to-back oracles against Tyre. In this first section the prophet uses satire and irony to describe the city’s king as thinking, because he has been able to amass great wealth, he is a god. He (the king) believes himself to possess wisdom greater than Daniel, but all of this will come crashing down. As a consequence of being so presumptuous, Ezekiel predicts that God will allow outside forces to destroy the king, and the state will fall to obscurity.
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Responsorial Psalm: Deuteronomy 32:26-27ab, 27cd-28, 30, 35cd-36ab
R. (39c) It is I who deal death and give life.
“I would have said, ‘I will make an end of them
and blot out their name from men’s memories,’
Had I not feared the insolence of their enemies,
feared that these foes would mistakenly boast.”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“‘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.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
“How could one man rout a thousand,
or two men put ten thousand to flight,
Unless it was because their Rock sold them
and the Lord delivered them up?”
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the Lord shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity.
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
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Commentary on Dt 32:26-27ab, 27cd-28, 30, 35cd-36ab
This passage from Deuteronomy is part of the "Song of Moses." In the strophes immediately preceding this section, it appeared as if Israel would be destroyed. Here we see that God relented in this action for fear that the utter defeat of Israel would be perceived as a victory for their enemies, rather than a punishment from God. The selection concludes in faith. Moses sings that God will surely show mercy to the people.
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Gospel: Matthew 19:23-30
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
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.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone 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.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
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Commentary on Mt 19:23-30
St. Matthew’s Gospel continues the focus on valuing the spiritual life above the material pursuits of earthly existence. The disciples were dismayed at the asceticism required for discipleship. They ask the Lord who could be saved, since all people have fallen prey to the desire for comfort for themselves and material wealth, and even the poorest of people desire material possessions.
The Lord then provides the answer that, for God, all things are possible, and that through their faith in him they will find their reward. Jesus continues his discourse with an eschatological description of who shall receive the gift of eternal life. All who come to the Lord, regardless of when they come to faith, may find the reward (“the last shall be first”).
CCC: Mt 19:23-29 2053; Mt 19:23-24 226; Mt 19:26 276, 308, 1058; Mt 19:28 765
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Reflection:
We consider again the notion of wealth and the human person: what is important to man and to God. Let’s start with what is being communicated by the prophet Ezekiel. He is clearly speaking to the leader of Tyre. What Ezekiel is trying to say is that, just because the prince of Tyre has accumulated massive wealth, it does not mean he has done what is important in following God’s law. The prophet lets the prince know that all the money in the world is not going to do him any good when God judges.
This is actually important in understanding what Jesus says later in the Gospel. We should know that material wealth was considered by the Hebrews of this era to be a sign of favor from God. When Ezekiel says, “Because you have thought yourself to have the mind of a god, therefore I will bring against you foreigners, the most barbarous of nations,” he is telling the prince, in paraphrase: if you think that you gained your riches because you were in God’s favor and understood his will, you are sadly mistaken.
So, when Jesus says:” Again I say to you, 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,” we hear the disciples in St. Matthew’s Gospel cry out: “Who then can be saved?” Jesus does this because the disciples understood material wealth to be a sign of God’s favor. The Lord is saying that gaining material wealth is not some special gift from the Father. In fact, based upon what he tells the disciples next, wealth is a hindrance.
Jesus uses the metaphor of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. In Jesus’ day, the Eye of a Needle was a very narrow gate into Jerusalem that a burdened camel could not go through. In modern language the Lord might say, you can’t take it with you, or you can’t get in with the baggage you carry. Earthly belongings need to be checked at the door. (An interesting analogy that I have not explored homiletically is the parallel with increased baggage charges by the airlines.)
We won’t talk about the disciples at this point, since we consider them to be saints. We understand that they received the reward they were worried about. What is important for us is what do we, the richest people on earth, do about this whole “eye of a needle” thing? The Lord would tell us the same thing he told the wealthy young man in the story that immediately preceded this one. To gain eternal life, follow the commandments. If you want to be perfect, give all you own to the poor and follow Jesus.
It comes down to where our true treasure is. If it is in “things,” then “things” will be our reward. If our true treasure is the Lord our Savior, he will be our reward. As always, balancing what we need with what we want is difficult. What the Lord makes clear is his children need to follow his law, rather than the laws of secular society, if they want the reward only he can offer.
Pax
[1] The picture is “St. Bernard” (detail) by Georg Andreas Wasshuber, 1700s.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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