Christian Art | A Camel Through The Eye Of The Needle
Mark 10: 17-27 – Week 8 Ordinary Time, Monday (Audio Bible KJV Spoken Word)
17 ¶ And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 ¶ And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
The rich young man has recognized what Jesus has to offer him. Moved with great enthusiasm, he runs to Jesus to ask him what he must do. To this, Jesus reminds the young man of the Ten Commandments.
These Bible verses affirm that Jesus is not come to replace the commandments, but rather to fulfil them. Indeed, we may consider the commandments now and find that no part of them has become obsolete. As Christians, we are called to obey the commandments.
This could seem strange. After all, Jesus came to forgive us our sins, and he does much in his ministry to counteract the excessive, and excessively detailed, elaborations of the Jewish observances. The commandments, however, are not an excess, a burden placed upon people to keep them in line; they are at the core of God’s rule for living. In effect, all the sins we commit can be considered a violation of one or more of the Ten Commandments.
Thou shalt not kill. There are few of us who will ever actually kill another human being, but the commandment reaches beyond this bald interpretation. All too often, a person might injure another person through a cruel word or through the omission of a kind word, or we might carelessly withhold much needed deeds of affection, failing to treat every other human being as our neighbour, our brother in Christ.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Well, when we are married, to cheat on a husband or wife must be almost unthinkable, and yet we see that many people squander their gift of sexuality through promiscuous living and through a way of life which is directed to sexual display and transient gratification, in effect making themselves and other people objects of a sexually oriented idolatry.
Thou shalt not steal. Yet so much that we buy and sell has come at high environmental cost, or a cost in terms of human misery, which is not factored through to the price we pay. Perhaps, then, the rules of the marketplace have led many to pay those who work for them, whether indirectly or directly, the least they could get away with, rather than what would be truly a living wage. There are many who work each day and yet live in poverty, their lives being stolen from them.
Above all, there is the primary, positive commandment: ‘And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.’ This is one commandment Jesus most notably asks of us, concerning his Father and also himself. We are not to regard Jesus as only a great teacher or prophet or healer. We are to love him with all our being. We are to be part of his body. We are to drink his blood and eat his flesh. We are to know that he is the air we breathe, that without him we can do nothing, that our lives are lived through Jesus. We are to know that there is no other good but God’s, and from this all good in our lives flows. This was the commandment of Yahweh to Moses and to the people of Israel. It is now our commandment, as Christians.
The rich young man knows the commandments. Moreover, he has obeyed the commandments from his youth. Surely, then, salvation must be his? Jesus now looks at this young man with love and also pity. There is one thing this rich young man lacks, which is all that he has. To be perfect, he must give away everything that he has, and so follow Jesus.
The rich young man, then, is returned to the first commandment, to love God. His attachment to worldly possessions compromises this. If his mind, his desires, his love, are caught up in his material wealth, then he cannot wholly be with God. The young man has asked Jesus how to achieve everything. Rejecting what Jesus has to say to him, he goes away sorrowful. From now on, all that rich young man’s possessions will only mean this to him: sorrow.
‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.’ This is a difficult saying. Riches can work great wonders in the world. Riches build hospitals and schools, can keep people from dying of malaria, can feed and house people. But it is not money that is the root of all evil; it is the love of money. It is that false love that grasps onto the young man, and so leads him away from God.
‘Follow Christ! You who are single or preparing for marriage. Follow Christ! You who are young or old. Follow Christ! You who are sick or ageing; who are suffering or in pain. You who feel the need for healing, the need for love, the need for a friend – follow Christ!’ John Paul II
Concluding Prayer
Lord God,
who entrusted the earth to mankind
to till it and care for it,
and made the sun to serve people’s needs:
give us the grace this day to work faithfully for your glory
and for our neighbbours’ good.
We make our prayer through our Lord.
Christian Art | Our Lord Jesus On The Cross | God The Father | God The Son Office Of Readings | Advent December 23rd | A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed ‘The hidden sacrament is revealed.’ In this reading, Saint Hippolytus writes against the Noetic heresy, which denied the real distinction between the Father and the Son by treating them as the same person acting under different names. The purpose of Saint Hippolytus is to defend the Church’s confession of one God who is not solitary, but who exists with his Word and Spirit. Hippolytus begins by setting a principle: knowledge of God comes from the Holy Scriptures, not from speculation or private reasoning. Faith is not shaped by human preference but by what God has chosen to reveal. The Father determines how He is believed, the Son how He is glorified, and the Spirit how He is received. This establishes Scripture as the rule of faith and guards against theological invention. Hippolytus then affirms that God existed alone before creation, with nothing co-eternal alongside Him. At the same time, God was not without reason, wisdom, or power. Hippolytus insists that plurality within God does not compromise divine unity. God contains within himself Word, wisdom, and counsel. Creation begins when God wills and manifests His Word. The Word is not created from nothing but proceeds from God and acts as the agent of creation. The Word is first invisible to the created world, though known to God. When God chooses, He makes the Word visible, described as ‘Light of Light’. This language safeguards both distinction and unity: the Word comes from God and reveals God, without being separate from Him. The manifestation of the Word is ordered towards salvation, so that the world may see and be saved. Hippolytus identifies this Word clearly with the Son of God. Through him all things were made, and he alone comes forth from the Father. The Law and the prophets belong to the same saving plan. God speaks through them by the Holy Spirit, so that they proclaim not their own ideas but the Father’s will. Revelation is therefore coherent: creation, prophecy, and incarnation belong to one divine purpose. Hippolytus appeals to the Gospel of John to show continuity between prophecy and fulfilment. The Word spoken of by the prophets is the Word made flesh. Though the world was made through him, it failed to recognise him. This failure does not negate God’s plan but reveals the depth of the mystery now disclosed. A Reading From The Treatise Of Saint Hippolytus Against The Heresy Of Noetus | The Hidden Sacrament Is Revealed There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and from no other source. Whatever things the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatever they teach, let us learn it; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as he wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify him; and as he wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet storming by force the things which are given by God, but even as he has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. God, subsisting alone, and having nothing coeval with himself, chose to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, he made it; and at once it appeared, formed it in the way he desired. For us it is sufficient simply to know that nothing was coeval with God. Outside him there was nothing; but he, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality. For he did not lack reason, or wisdom, or power, or counsel. All things were in him, and he was the All. At a time and in a manner chosen by him he made his Word manifest, and through his Word he made all things. He bears this Word in himself, as yet invisible to the created world. He makes him visible, uttering the voice first, and begetting him as Light of Light. He presents him to the world as its Lord; and whereas the Word was visible formerly to God alone, and invisible to the world which is made, God makes the Word visible in order that the world might see him and be able to be saved. This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God. All things came into being through him, and he alone comes from the Father. He gave us the Law and the prophets; and in giving them, he made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that, receiving the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will. Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made. And later, The world was made by him, and the world did not know him; he came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Christian Prayer With Jesus Lord God,You are one, and from You come the Word and the Spirit.You have chosen to make Yourself known, not by human effort,but by what You have revealed in the scriptures. You spoke Your Word, and all things were made.You made that Word visible, so that the world might see and be saved.Grant that we may receive what You give,believe what You teach,and worship You as You have shown Yourself to be. Keep us […]
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the image of a woman giving birth is often used to express great pain. It is also often used, especially by the prophets, to signify the birth of the new messianic people – see, for example, Isaiah. Jesus recalls both the pain of the Old Testament and the hope and fulfilment expressed through the prophets. The new birth is imminent. Through the sorrow and pain of the crucifixion, we are called to God [ … ]
The reading sets before us the Church’s life in its full horizon. The reading begins by reminding us that the Church is called to holiness, and that this holiness will reach its completion only in heaven. The Church already belongs to Christ, and already receives his grace, but its true perfection lies ahead, when all things are renewed in Jesus. In that renewal, creation itself will be perfected, for the world and the human family are bound together in God’s plan. What began in Jesus Christ will one day embrace the whole of creation [ … ]
