Twelfth Sunday of Matthew
Matthew 19:16-26
Matthew 19:16-26
By St. Theophan the Recluse
"It
is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 19:26). Here is meant a
rich man who sees in his own self many methods and many powers unto his
own prosperity. But as soon as one who has many possessions cuts off
all attachment to them, extinguishes within himself all reliance on
them, and ceases to see them as his substantial support, then in his
heart he is the same as one who possesses nothing — for in this way is
the road to the kingdom open. Riches are then not only a hindrance, but a
help, for they provide the means for charitable works. Riches are not
the misfortune, but rather reliance upon them and attachment to them.
This thought can be generalized in this way: whoever relies on something
and is attached to something is rich in that thing. Whoever relies on
God alone and cleaves to Him with all his heart is rich in God. Whoever
relies on something else turns his heart to it instead of God — such a
person is rich in this other thing, but not in God. From this it follows
that he who is not rich in God has no entrance into the kingdom of God.
Here are meant such things as birth, connections, mind, rank, circle of
activities and so forth.