Wis 7.7-11; Ps 89; Heb 4.12-13; Mk 10.17-30

1. Various ingenious and spurious explanations have been offered over the years to explain away the very difficult saying in today’s gospel – that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. However, the most likely meaning intended by Our Lord when He spoke these daunting words is simply their plain and obvious literal sense. He also gives this stern warning a more consoling perspective when He says that although it is impossible for men, everything is possible for God. We cannot by our own efforts achieve our own salvation. We must put ourselves unconditionally into God’s hands. With God’s help, nothing will be impossible – even the salvation of over-weight and cholesterol-laden camels like ourselves.

2. Does this mean that we should actually give away all our money, selling everything that we have, and giving the proceeds to the poor? Again, numerous disclaimers have often been preached on this delicate subject. The standard answer given is that detachment from riches is what is being commended. We are not obliged to make ourselves poor, only to ensure that we are not possessed by money, not ruled by it. For those who do have plenty of money, this interpretation is perhaps consoling. For those of us who are in fact poor to start with, for whom life is a constant financial struggle to make ends meet, the more literal meaning is doubtless more attractive. We could indeed wish that more rich people took the gospel more seriously, sold more of their goods, and gave more of the proceeds to those of us less fortunate than themselves.

3. Rich or poor, the question affects us all: why is it so very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? The answer lies in a deeper understanding of what ‘detachment’ really means. What is it about having plenty of money that threatens our chances of salvation? One of the things that money gives is security. We know this from our experience of family life. When there is enough money to house and clothe and feed the family, there are usually fewer problems to worry about. Lots of cash, no worries. With money in our pockets, life seems less risky. We can go where we want, and do what we want. The danger is that this type of material security, highly desirable in normal circumstances, can give us a false sense of spiritual security. We can make the serious mistake of thinking that the calm self-confidence engendered by the clink, or even better the rustle, of money in our pockets is the sign of a clear conscience, a tranquil soul. This would be a very serious piece of spiritual self-deception. Feeling calm and poised because of a full wallet or purse is by no means necessarily the same thing as being at peace with God, ready for death and well-prepared for judgement.

4. The other danger is that the things which money buys can easily take the edge off our hunger and thirst for the spiritual, the supernatural. With a house full of toys and amusements, it is all too easy to forget the things of the spirit. How many people would generally choose to derive their consolation and recreation from rosaries, spiritual books, and holy pictures when they can instead amuse themselves with the latest hi-tech gadgetry. I do not say that the convenient gadgets, the labour-saving devices, of modern life are automatically wrong. They can improve the quality of life in so many ways. The danger is that they can and do blunt our awareness of what the ultimate quality of life must be – a deep transforming spiritual union with Our Lord Christ, the Son of God.

5. The tiny eye of the slender needle which our flabby, materialistic and gadget-obsessed camel struggles to get through is the uncompromisingly narrow gate to salvation which will not be negotiated on any terms but its own. I mean that ultimately, we have to put all our spiritual eggs into the one small but perfectly formed basket of salvation. So rich and poor alike, we must all ask ourselves frequently these questions: is the hope of heaven the most important driving force in my life? Is staying on the side of the angels what matters most to me, in the helter-skelter, roller-coaster, snakes-and-ladders adventure of daily life? Do I care more about the practice of Catholicism than anything else in all the world? Are the teachings and worship of the Church more delightful to me than anything which my new DVD player or hologram projector can entice me with?

6. For most of us, the honest answer to these questions is no. More often than not, we prefer the sybaritic blandishments which money can buy rather than the austere joys of the spiritual life. Most of us, if left to ourselves, find it easy to progress from devices to vices. We must be honest. We cannot pretend that spiritual detachment comes easily. We need an apprenticeship in detachment from the false security which money can buy. It’s a good plan to work at detachment in very specific, concrete ways, on a daily basis. There’s no need to wait for Lent in order to give something up. Try going without now, today. Try going for at least one day every week, without any alcohol, or sweets, or cakes, or ice-creams, or snacks – anything which we like but which we don’t, or shouldn’t, actually need. Use the money you save, not for a compensatory treat, another video, more software, more new clothes, but for alms, something given to a worthwhile Catholic charity.

7. The daily self-discipline of self-denial in small and unobtrusive ways is necessary training in detachment. This training is also a useful way of showing us what we are addicted to in daily life, addicted perhaps without caring to admit it. Money can feed addictions. Self-denial can help us break with them. We shall find it hard, we shall often fail. But with God, nothing is impossible. With His help, we can learn to use money wisely, in ways that will further our spiritual progress, not hinder it. Then we shall have a better chance, albeit puffing and panting a little, of straining ourselves through the eye of that slender needle, the gateway to the kingdom.