Rich in Christ!

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Jud 6:11-24a; Mt 19:23-30

Today’s Gospel highlights the dangers of temporal wealth and the rewards of discipleship as spiritual wealth.

When Jesus begins his instruction, it looks as if he is writing off the possibility of the rich people entering God’s Kingdom. However, if we keenly analyze Jesus’ words, we may find that he only underlines the dangers of temporal wealth. 

1. As regards the dangers of temporal wealth, Jesus draws our attention to its gravitational pull that severs our union with God. It lures us with a false sense of self-sufficiency that such pride results in forgetfulness of God. When the rich young man walked away from Jesus because he had ‘many possessions,’ the issue was not just possession but his attachment. Indeed, his riches had become his chains. They became his idol and thus a burden to his soul. 

2. In total contrast, the spiritual wealth helps us understand that there is no greater wealth than God. We are gifted with the wisdom to distinguish the kind of wealth that endures. This is why it becomes easy for the disciples to cling on to the Lord, not out of hatred for life but out of love for Christ. When we are with the Lord, we also become the channels of His blessing, sharing our spiritual wealth with all and making them partakers of our experience of real joy, true peace, and selfless love. 

Hence, it is wrong to say that Jesus critiques wealth as something inherently bad. Nor does he consider possessions as something to be ashamed of. Instead, he wants us to see what animates our lives – a desire for temporal wealth or the thirst for spiritual wealth.

Let us pray that we may choose to be rich in Christ, not in things. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar