Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Myroslav Vons on the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
August 10, 2024
The Lord always stretches out His hand, as if to say, as He did to the Apostle Peter: “Do not be afraid; do not doubt. I am here with you.” Even in this passage, the Gospel ends on a very positive note: “With men, this is not possible; but with God, all things are possible.” We just need to put our trust in the Lord.
“With men, this is not possible; but with God, all things are possible.”
How many times have we heard and read this Gospel about the rich young man? But today, I invite you once again to immerse yourself in this event and reflect on what the young man and Jesus Christ were talking about.
So, let’s imagine: Jesus is standing among the disciples and the people. A young man approaches Him. He does not run and fall at His feet. He does not call out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” His clothes show that he is a rich man. He begins a conversation with Jesus, saying, “Good Teacher! What good must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus responds by asking, “Why do you call me good?” And without waiting for an answer, He says to the young man, “Keep the commandments, and you will enter into life.” The young man simply replies, “Which ones?” This is a very strange question from a young man who should know the law, having been taught it since childhood. The Lord then lists the commandments for him. And let’s look closely: there is no commandment to “love your God with all your heart” or “remember to keep the holy day holy.” Why? The words from the first letter of the Apostle John come to mind: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (John 4:20).
At the end of this conversation, the young man leaves sad, and the disciples are surprised. They are surprised that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. This sounds extremely strange to them. They compare the size of a camel to the eye of a needle. They would rather believe that this rich young man could enter the kingdom of heaven. But no, their Master says that the camel has a better chance of going through the eye of a needle than the rich young man has of entering the kingdom of heaven. The Lord sees their amazement and says, “With men, this is not possible, but with God, all things are possible.”
Everyone who considers themselves a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, asks similar questions to this young man today. Everyone asks in their prayers to the Lord, “Have I done the right thing? Have I chosen the right path?” When we communicate with Jesus in our hearts, we ask, “What must I do to attain eternal life?” Seeing the pain, suffering, and grief in this world, we constantly struggle with our own doubts about whether Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the Good Shepherd or the Good Teacher who guides and teaches.
We often neglect the commandments and advice given to us by the Lord Himself. We believe that some of them are already morally outdated or that they can be interpreted in different ways. On the other hand, we cannot boast that we always do what Jesus Christ advises us to do. We disobey, we try to justify ourselves, and we manipulate, thinking that the Lord does not see our hearts. A heart wounded by sin is tired of constant struggle, always looking for and longing for sincere love.
The rich young man did not say anything evil. He was looking for information. He came to the most famous teacher in the neighborhood at that time. He tried to live a righteous life and believed that the letter of the law was the way to reach the kingdom of heaven. His wealth was not a bad thing. The prophet Abraham was also very rich because God gave him wealth. In the Old Testament, we read: “Also every man to whom God gives riches and wealth is allowed to use them, to take his share of them, and to be glad in his labor, and this is a gift from God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
The young man sincerely asked Jesus about the way to achieve his goal. But he went away sad. Why? Because he did not see Jesus as his Savior! If he had, he would have rejoiced, for joy is always in the Lord (cf. Philippians 4:4). To the young man, Jesus was just a simple “Rabbi,” a teacher who was supposed to teach something better than all the others. A teacher who was supposed to praise him. The young man was confident in his own righteousness—a righteousness that came from observing the letters of the law but not from the commandment of love. In the end, it was not just a matter of this young man going and giving away his wealth so that he could become poor, but, as the Apostle Paul writes, to love: “And if I give all I have to the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).
The biggest mistake of the young man was to live for the sake of compliance, to do everything because it is written in the law, and not to do it out of love for his neighbor. To seek perfection without love. But to be perfect is to have love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7–8). He relied on himself and on his own strength to save himself, and he did not trust in the Lord. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).
Why were the disciples so surprised by this conversation between Jesus and the rich man? Why were they afraid? If this young man who did everything right, whom God blessed with wealth, could not enter the kingdom of heaven, then who could? Were they afraid because they had followed Jesus? Jesus, who was now telling them about a camel and the eye of a needle? The apostles, who had been brought up in the traditions of that time, were afraid because they themselves did not have this perfection in love. If they had, they would not have been afraid. As the Holy Scripture tells us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). The apostles did not yet understand who Jesus Christ was. Jesus Christ is the Lord—not just a teacher, but “the beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (cf. Matt. 3:16–17).
In conclusion, the wealth that Jesus condemns is not the amount of money in a bank account, nor the number of houses and cars. It is not a social or political status. It is our attitude towards all these material goods. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). This is our scale of values. Am I a slave of God or a slave of sin? As the holy Apostle Peter says: “For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved” (cf. 2 Peter 2:19).
The Lord did not say that this young man was lost and would not be saved. No, the Lord always stretches out His hand, as if to say, as He did to the Apostle Peter: “Do not be afraid; do not doubt. I am here with you.” Even in this passage, the Gospel ends on a very positive note: “With men, this is not possible; but with God, all things are possible.” We just need to put our trust in the Lord and not in the things of this world. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6).
