November 2009
"E 'easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven "(Mt 19.24)
[...]
It makes quite an impression this sentence?
I think you're right to be perplexed and think about what is appropriate for you do. Jesus did not say anything so to speak. It 'must therefore take these words seriously, not to want to water down.
But try to understand the true meaning of them by Jesus himself, by the way he acted with the rich. He also attended wealthy. To Zacchaeus, which gives only half of his assets, he says, salvation has come to this house.
The Acts of the Apostles show that in the early Church the communion of goods was free and then the actual surrender all one's possessions was not required.
Jesus had in mind, therefore, to establish only a community of people called to follow [...], leaving aside any wealth. Yet
says
"It 's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven", Jesus condemns
What? Certainly not the goods of the land itself, but the rich man attached to them.
And why?
E 'clear: because everything belongs to God and the rich behave as if the riches were his.
The fact is that the wealth in the human heart can easily take the place of God and blind and facilitate every vice. Paul, the Apostle, wrote: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Attachment love of money is the root of all evil; for this craving that some have wandered from the faith and be themselves through with many sorrows. "
Plato had said, "It 's impossible for an extraordinarily good time to be extraordinarily rich."
What then is the attitude of those who have? It is important that he has a heart that is free, totally open to God, that feels administrator of his property and knows, as John Paul II, who imposed upon them a social mortgage.
The goods of this world, not bad for themselves, there is no need to despise, but you have to use them well.
not the hand, but the heart must stay away from them. It is knowing how to use for the good of others.
Who is rich it is for others.
"It 's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven"
But perhaps you will say I'm not really rich, so these words do not concern me.
Fa 'attention. The question that perplexed the disciples have done to Christ right after this statement was: "Who then can be saved?". This clearly tells us that these words were addressed a bit 'at all.
Even someone who has left everything to follow Christ may have a heart attack in a thousand things. Even a poor man's blasphemy because you touch the bag can be a rich toward God
Chiara Lubich
This Word of Life was originally published in July 1979
