Mark 10:17-30
"It is easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Today, we hear our Lord tell us how difficult it is for someone who is attached to material things to get to heaven. He obviously did not mean that we should not have possessions, but rather that they do not interfere with our love of God. A moderate amount of material things is necessary for life. However, excessive wealth is felt to be a guarantee of future comfort, which will inevitably and ever so subtly, lead to a feeling of independence, that we don't need God. Thus, the more possessions we have, the greater the temptation to forsake Him.
The catechism states that respect for human dignity requires the practice of the virtue of temperance, so as to moderate attachment to this world's goods; the practice of the virtue of justice, to preserve our neighbor's rights and render them what is due; and the practice of solidarity in keeping with the generosity of the Lord who "though He was rich, yet for our sake, became poor so that by His poverty, we might become rich".
As we heard in the reading this evening, the rich man could either give up his worldly things to follow Jesus and obtain a heavenly reward, or keep his treasure on earth. "To follow" Jesus, which is an expression that describes discipleship, demands that we prefer Him over everything else, that we accompany Him without looking back, free from all attachment. This quote led St. Anthony and many others like him, to renounce all things and espouse evangelical poverty in religious and monastic life.
The Lord comes to us in ways we do not expect. The rich man firmly believed that by keeping the commandments, he would achieve eternal life. Christ's answer to him was totally unexpected and sent him away sad.
While I was preparing this homily, I thought of the words to a song I've known for many years about a man who lives in a "fleeting house" and who is approached by a Hobo. The Hobo refuses to enter the house as it is and walks away. I believe the Hobo is a Christ-figure who comes to each of us in our own "fleeting houses" (vanishing defenses?) and asks us to do what we are not ready to do. (Click here for a Youtube video of Tim's song. He died much too young.) Do we have the courage to accept our Lord as He comes to us?
I lit my purest candle close to my window, hoping it would catch the eye
Of any vagabond who passed it by and I waited in my fleeting house.
Before He came I felt Him drawing near and as He neared I felt the ancient fear
That He had come to wound my door and jeer and I waited in my fleeting house.
"Tell me stories," I called to the Hobo; "Stories of cold," I smiled at the Hobo;
"Stories of old," I knelt to the Hobo; and He stood before my fleeting house.
"No," said the Hobo, "no more tales of time, don't ask me now to wash away the grime;
I can't come in 'cause it's too high a climb." And He walked away from my fleeting house.
"Then you be damned," I screamed to the Hobo; "Leave me alone," I wept to the Hobo;
"Turn into stone," I knelt to the Hobo; And he walked away from my fleeting house. (1)
- Morning Glory, by Buckley/Beckett. Third Story Music, BMI.