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Commentary on the Gospel of the day, Tuesday, August 20th, 2024.
Today’s Gospel reading follows yesterday’s. The disciples were shocked to see Jesus asking the rich young man to leave everything, absolutely everything. And to give it all to the poor before following Him. On top of that, Jesus makes the comparison of the camel and the eye of the needle, leaving the disciples even more astonished. The conclusion for some: riches are from the devil, and rich people are bad news. Not a single one will be saved.
Honestly, I don’t think that’s the right conclusion. What Jesus is telling us is that we need to have our priorities straight. If someone puts money and riches ahead of Jesus and the Kingdom, they’re going to have a tough time with salvation because they’re making the mistake of putting the central value of their life in riches, not in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom is the center of everything for Jesus. And anyone who wants to follow Him has to put everything they are and everything they have at the service of the Kingdom, which is nothing other than the justice and brotherhood of the sons and daughters of God. Are you intelligent? Put your intelligence at the service of your brothers and sisters. Do you have wealth? Put that wealth at the service of your brothers and sisters. And we could continue with all our qualities, all our strengths, everything we possess. As a liberation theologian said many years ago: we have to go over to the poor with weapons and baggage. He meant that it’s not about renouncing what we are and have, but about putting it all at the service of the poorest.
That’s where we’ll find salvation. That’s where we’ll find life, Life with a capital L, the one worth living because it doesn’t end, because it’s forever.
Clinging to money or other things as if salvation were there is a serious mistake. In the short term, it might make us feel secure, but in the end, it’s worthless. Life isn’t found in money or big houses or fancy cars or bank accounts with lots of zeros. Life is found in the fraternal embrace of our brothers and sisters, in love that is always freely given. That’s the life worth living. That’s the life of the Kingdom.”