Jesus turned to the disciples and said, “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.” (Matthew 19:23-30)
In the first
century, the “eye of a needle” referred to small openings in city walls that
were sometimes used after the main gate had closed. They were so small though, that in order for
a camel to enter, it had to bend down on its knees and crawl through to the
other side; in most cases, the camel would also have to be unburdened of all of
the “things” it was carrying for its owner’s comfort or livelihood. We
pile so many worldly attachments upon our backs that we're like camels laden
with luggage! None of this baggage can
squeeze through the gate into God's kingdom. If we try to hold onto them, we don't fit
through the gate. Identifying all of our
worldly bags so that we can free ourselves from their weight seems impossible.
In this day
and age, we too ask the same question that the disciples asked; "Then who
can be saved?" Jesus STILL answers
in the same way; "For you this is impossible, but if you seek God's help,
it will become very possible."
In His image
of the camel and the eye of the needle, Christ wasn’t talking about an
impossible occurrence, albeit a difficult one.
Instead, He was preaching to us the importance of humility.
When we’re asked
to ponder the characteristics of a hero or heroine, we often come up with virtues
like strength, courage, bravery, and honor.
Sometimes we may include love, trustworthiness, and faithfulness, but
humility is not something we hold in high esteem. Humility is for those who aren’t strong enough
to fight through a difficulty or trial.
Humility is for those who are weak.
And yet,
humility is what should separate Christians from all others. It’s the greatest weapon in our fight against
the devil. As St. Vincent de Paul tells
us, “For as Satan does not know how to employ humility, neither does he know
how to defend himself from it.” When we
act out of true humility, the devil is powerless to oppose us. We each must strive to become nothing in the
eyes of the world, so that we might stoop to serve the lowest in our
lives. We should pray to be delivered
from our fears of being ridiculed as well as from our desires of being honored
and extolled. In addition, we must also
pray for the grace to desire that others become more esteemed and praised than
our own selves.
In all
things, though, we must pray. We must be
willing to let God speak to us in the quiet of our hearts because, as Mother
Teresa teaches us, “If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to
you. Then you will know that you are
nothing. It is only when you realize
your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself.” Just as a camel can only pass through the eye
of a needle on its knees, so too a rich person can only enter the Kingdom of
Heaven on his knees before his God and King.
Just as Indiana Jones discovers in The Last Crusade, “The penitent man
will pass before God,” and he does so on his knees in prayer.
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