Fellow St Jude Parishioners:
On Tuesday, August 18, the Church gives us the following Gospel words to consider: “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.”
The image of a camel passing through the eye of a needle is almost impossible to visualize and yet, Jesus tells us in this week’s Gospel that this camel will have an easier go of it than a rich man trying to enter heaven.
Like so many of the Bible stories, things don’t make sense to us until we examine the culture of the times and the context of the story. A few verses before this reading, we hear of a rich man who approached Jesus and asked how he could get into heaven. After affirming to Jesus that he kept the Commandments, Jesus told this rich young man to sell all of his possessions and follow him. This proved to be too much for the man and so he sadly turned and walked away. Jesus then proceeded to speak of the camel passing through the eye of the needle.
It is believed that, in Jesus’ day, the Eye of the Needle was a narrow gate in Jerusalem that was opened when the main gate closed for the night. Because it was narrow, a camel carrying its baggage could not fit through. Only after the side sacks were removed from the camel, could it then fit through the gate.
Jesus is not telling us that our possessions are bad or that they will keep us out of heaven, what Jesus is speaking of is our attachment to them.
Our First Commandment states that God should be first in our lives and that we shouldn’t have any other ‘gods’ before him. Back in Biblical Times, these other gods could be gods of the harvest, the sun, the sea, etc. Our gods may be more subtle, but can sometimes push God into second or third place.
This week’s Gospel is a reminder to take some time to reflect on whether we have any attachment that would get in the way of our relationship with God. Something that might get in the way of our attempts to nourish our faith lives? Something that might claim the ten or fifteen minutes we might otherwise spend in private prayer each day. Something that might call us away from availing ourselves to the Sacraments.
If there is such thing in our life, that something would be different for each one of us. All we need to do is simply unburden ourselves of the baggage of whatever attachment keeps us from squeezing thorough the narrow gate.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Henry
