20250819 SALVATION IS PURE GRACE OF GOD
19 August 2025, Tuesday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Judges 6:11-24 |
'Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die'
The angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah which belonged to Joash of Abiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside the winepress to keep it hidden from Midian, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘The Lord is with you, valiant warrior!’ Gideon answered him, ‘Forgive me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, then why is it that all this is happening to us now? And where are all the wonders our ancestors tell us of when they say, “Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.’
At this the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength now upholding you, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Do I not send you myself?’ Gideon answered him, ‘Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan, you must know, is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least important in my family.’ The Lord answered him, ‘I will be with you and you shall crush Midian as though it were a single man.’ Gideon said to him, ‘If I have found favour in your sight, give me a sign that it is you who speak to me. I beg you, do not go away until I come back. I will bring you my offering and set it down before you.’ And he answered, ‘I will stay until you return.’
Gideon went away and prepared a young goat and made unleavened cakes with an ephah of flour. He put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot, then brought it all to him under the terebinth. As he came near, the angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock and pour the broth over them.’ Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the angel of the Lord vanished before his eyes. Then Gideon knew this was the angel of the Lord, and he said, ‘Alas, my Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’ The Lord answered him, ‘Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die.’ Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The-Lord-is-Peace.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 84(85):9,11-14 |
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people and his friends
and those who turn to him in their hearts.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
Or: | 2Co8:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 19:23-30 |
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’
Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.
‘Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’
SALVATION IS PURE GRACE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jdg 6:11-24; Mt 19:23-30]
In the first reading from the book of Judges, Gideon received an unexpected visitor whilst he was threshing wheat on his father’s farm. Like the rest of his people, he was hiding from his enemies and trying to keep alive. But God sent an angel to reveal His plan for Gideon, saying, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior!” These words sounded ironic, and Gideon rightly questioned them: “Forgive me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, then why is it that all this is happening to us now? And where are all the wonders our ancestors tell us of when they say, ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.” Moreover, if Gideon truly were a valiant warrior, he would not have been hiding like everyone else.
However, God wanted to remind Israel that salvation does not depend on their strength and ingenuity, but on His strength and power alone. For this reason, God chose Gideon – the least of the weakest clan of his tribe (cf Jdg 6:15) – to rescue Israel. God manifests His power to save precisely when we feel totally helpless: “Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.” (Jdg 7:2) This has always been the way God works in our lives. He comes to us when we are down and out, when we can rely only on His strength. He said something similar to Moses, “I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. I will be with you.” (Ex 3:10,12) What was true for Moses was no less true for Gideon, for his valour was not in himself, but from what God was going to make of him. “‘Go in the strength now upholding you, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian.”
This same theme prevails in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus said to His disciples: “I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” This remark of Jesus was in response to the rich young man who asked the Lord, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16) This man appears to be a good Jew – respectful towards our Lord, God-fearing, and seemingly sincere in his concern for the salvation of his soul, both now and hereafter. Yet, even for us who are faith believers, our concerns are very much about this present life. Unlike the rich man, our restlessness is not usually about eternal life but about our daily preoccupations with finance, work, health, and comfort. We worry more about missing out on these things than about the life that is to come, which we think is still a remote concern.
To appreciate Jesus’ remark about riches, we must understand the struggle of the rich young man. His question was: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16) He was thinking that salvation could be achieved by doing good deeds and earning merits through his own strength. Jesus told him, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” When the man asked, “Which ones?” Jesus listed the commandments – beginning with those honouring God above all things and concluding with the prohibition against coveting others’ possessions. (Ex 20:17). Why did Jesus highlight them in this way?
The truth is that the rich young man’s greatest weakness was his failure to adhere to the tenth commandment – coveting possessions. Of course, he seemed unaware of what was in his heart, declaring to the Lord, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” He was possessed by his possessions and therefore unable to let them go. He thought that his wealth was his security and source of life. But obviously even with all his riches, something was missing in his life. Jesus exposed the truth: although outwardly he seemed to be doing the right thing, at the very core of his heart, he loved things more than he loved God and his fellowmen. Although he desired eternal life, he was not prepared to surrender what hindered him from entering the Kingdom of God. His emptiness was rooted in this failure to keep the tenth commandment.
So the Lord challenged him: “‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” (Mt 19:21f) The call to perfection required him to fulfil both tables of the law – the first four commandments on loving God, and the other six on loving his neighbours. But love for neighbour flows from love of God. Hence, Jesus invited him to follow Him. Sadly, he was not ready to let go.
When we cling to our riches and wealth, we exert control over our own lives. We lack the childlike trust in God, as Gideon and the apostles did. Jesus made this clear earlier: “‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.'” (Mt 19:14) True liberation for love of God and neighbour requires total dependence on Christ alone. This, of course, requires faith in Him, without which we cannot detach ourselves from our riches. The Lord does not ask us to merely give alms to the poor, but to give everything – to God and to the poor. He demands from us everything. Only by so doing, do we fulfil the first four commandments and the last one.
This demand from our Lord is beyond human strength. No wonder the disciples were astonished at His words: “‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.'” This is the crux of the crisis – not only for the rich young man but also for the disciples. We cannot do it by our own strength. Only the Lord can provide us that grace. That is why we trust Him with childlike faith. As Mark Twain once wrote, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” The words of Jesus are not hard to understand, but hard to accept – for they demand surrender or control.
Indeed, Jesus did not condemn wealth itself, but consistently viewed the rich as the underprivileged. Although we see wealth as a manifestation of God’s blessing, Jesus warned that it can be a hindrance to spiritual growth. Wealth numbs our conscience, dulls our call to self-sacrifice, blinds us to the joys of heaven and the torments of hell; and fosters self-indulgence, self-reliance, pride, and a false sense of security. It breeds selfishness, materialism, and independence from God and our fellowmen. A miser is always miserable. When wealth possesses us, it controls our lives, our time, our vocation, our commitments, and our priorities. It must be clarified that it is not having money that is the cause of our emptiness, but putting our trust and security in it. What the Lord asks of us that we trust in Him like children and be ruled by Him and His divine providence.
This is why the disciples asked the right question, and Jesus’ response was clear, “‘For men, this is impossible; for God everything is possible.” Salvation is the work of God from beginning to the end. It is not our achievement but our cooperation with His grace. We will enter the Kingdom of God not because we are rich, great, or good, but because of God’s grace. With God, even a fat camel can pass through the eye of a needle. With His grace, nothing is impossible – not even His resurrection on the third day. Indeed, because Peter and the apostles left everything to follow Jesus – homes, work, possessions – He assured them of eternal life and the blessing of the community of saints.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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