20260818 RICHES AND POWER ARE GREAT OBSTACLES TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
18 August 2026, Tuesday, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Ezekiel 28:1-10 |
Against the arrogance of the king of Tyre
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre, “The Lord says this:
Being swollen with pride,
you have said: I am a god;
I am sitting on the throne of God,
surrounded by the seas.
Though you are a man and not a god,
you consider yourself the equal of God.
You are wiser now than Danel;
there is no sage as wise as you.
By your wisdom and your intelligence
you have amassed great wealth;
you have piles of gold and silver
inside your treasure-houses.
Such is your skill in trading,
your wealth has continued to increase,
and with this your heart has grown more arrogant.
And so, the Lord says this:
Since you consider yourself the equal of God,
very well, I am going to bring foreigners against you,
the most barbarous of the nations.
They will draw sword against your fine wisdom,
they will defile your glory;
they will throw you down into the pit
and you will die a violent death
surrounded by the seas.
Are you still going to say: I am a god,
when your murderers confront you?
No, you are a man and not a god
in the clutches of your murderers!
You will die like the uncircumcised
at the hand of foreigners.
For I have spoken – it is the Lord who speaks.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Deuteronomy 32:26-28,30,35-36 |
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
I should crush them to dust, said the Lord.
I should wipe out their memory among men,
did I not fear the boasting of the enemy.
But let not their foes be mistaken!
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
Let them not say: Our own power wins the victory,
the Lord plays no part in this.
What a nation of short sight it is;
in them there is no understanding.
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
How else could one man rout a thousand,
how could two put ten thousand to flight,
were it not that their Rock has sold them,
that the Lord has delivered them up?
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
For it is close, the day of their ruin;
their doom comes at speed.
For the Lord will see his people righted,
he will take pity on his servants.
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
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.’
RICHES AND POWER ARE GREAT OBSTACLES TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 28:1-10; MATTHEW 19:23-30]
People value wealth and power because they offer a sense of control over life. With money, we believe we can acquire almost anything. We can live comfortably, go on holidays, dress finely, and dine and sleep well. Even if we fall sick, we can afford the best medical care. Money can also buy power and flatterers who will bow to us and do our bidding. With power, we gain control over others and can use that influence to amass even more wealth.
Yet the truth is that wealth and power delude us into believing we are invincible and secure. This is far from true. During the conflicts in Iran, neighbouring oil-rich states, where many had invested capital, came to realise that the Gulf states were not so safe after all–a single bomb or drone could take a life in an instant. Even if we escape wars and bombs, our lives remain fragile.
Wealth and power can also make us proud, lulling us into thinking we are unassailable. We begin to feel as though the world is in our hands and that we owe no one anything. We become so arrogant that we lose respect for others, trampling on their rights simply because we hold economic, technological, and military advantages. We fear no one because we believe we are all-powerful.
This was precisely the mistake of the ruler of Tyre. “Swollen with pride”, he sought to supplant God–thinking he was divine, equal to God, and wiser than Daniel. The Lord warned him: “Though you are a man and not a god, you consider yourself the equal of God. You are wiser now than Daniel; there is no sage as wise as you. By your wisdom and your intelligence you have amassed great wealth; you have piles of gold and silver inside your treasure-houses. Such is your skill in trading, your wealth has continued to increase, and with this your heart has grown more arrogant.” Instead of remaining humble and grateful for God’s blessings, he became puffed up with self-importance. He forgot that he was merely a man, a creature of God. As the Psalmist says, “You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.”
Hence, Ezekiel prophesied disaster not only for sinful Jerusalem, but also for the arrogant pagan nations surrounding her. The city of Tyre was singled out because it was the richest and mightiest seaport along the northern coast of Palestine. Its primary sin was pride and arrogance–the same sin committed by Adam. It was pride that tempted Adam and the ruler of Tyre to claim equality with God and to arrogate to themselves authority that belongs to God alone. Haughty and self-sufficient, they were destined to fall. As the responsorial psalm reminds us, “It is the Lord who deals death and life.”
And so the Lord decreed: “Since you consider yourself the equal of God, very well, I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most barbarous of the nations. They will draw sword against your fine wisdom, they will defile your glory; they will throw you down into the pit and you will die a violent death surrounded by the seas.” Indeed, it is only when confronted with our mortality and the limits of human power that we recognise our finiteness–and realise there is Someone far greater than us, namely, God. Hence, the Lord asks the ruler of Tyre and all of us: “Are you still going to say: I am a god, when your murderers confront you? No, you are a man and not a god in the clutches of your murderers! You will die like the uncircumcised at the hand of foreigners.”
This is why we must not fall into the same trap as the ruler of Tyre. His sin was not in becoming rich and prosperous, but in believing his success was due solely to his own intelligence and effort. He felt entitled and came to identify himself with his wealth and talents. In spite of his vast riches, he suffered the same fate as Jerusalem–wiped out by Babylon. In the end, he was forced to realise that he was certainly no god, but merely a man.
Parallel to the fate of the ruler of Tyre is the rich young man in the Gospel. His only sin was his attachment to his wealth. He appeared sincere in his desire for eternal life when he asked the Lord, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16). When Jesus asked whether he had kept the commandments regarding love of neighbour, he replied, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” (Mt 19:18-20). But when challenged to seek perfection by selling his possessions, giving the money to the poor, and following Jesus, “he went away grieving, for he had many possessions” (Mt 19:22).
We can empathise with the rich young man. Detaching ourselves from possessions is difficult because we treat them as our security blanket; without them, we are forced into complete dependence on God and others. Even Peter and the apostles expected a return on their sacrifice, asking, “What about us? We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?” Often, even when we worship God and follow Him, we do so not out of pure love, but because we expect something in return. Our love remains conditional and imperfect–or as the saying goes, “there is no free lunch!” Fundamentally, we tend to be self-seeking; it is always “me first,” and for some, “me alone.”
Consequently, we can appreciate how unsettled the disciples were when Jesus said: “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.” The Gospel notes that “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.'” Like the disciples, many of us assume that wealth is God’s primary reward for living a good life. If that were not so, we wonder, what is the point of being good if it yields no material benefit?
What kind of reward, then, is worth more than material blessings? It is the blessing of fraternity and fellowship with God and with one another. Jesus said to Peter: “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.”
The apostles would be called to lead a new community where all are friends, brothers, and sisters, sharing intimately in the life of the Holy Trinity. In this community, each person cares for others as much as for themselves, ensuring no one is left in need. This was realised in the early Church, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people” (Acts 2:44-47).
This is how we enter the Kingdom of God. For what is the Kingdom of God if not a life of true freedom, mutual love, and discipleship in Christ–a life where everyone is treated as family?
In contrast, riches foster a false sense of independence, making us selfish, isolated, and attached to things rather than people. Wealth can rob us of the freedom to love and celebrate life because it breeds reluctance to share. But if we follow the path of Jesus–the path of selfless giving and humility, even unto death on the cross–we will find life to the fullest.
We must therefore ask ourselves: What is preventing us from entering the Kingdom of God? What are our attachments? They are not just riches; they can also be our passions, obsessive love for our loved ones, our sins, or vanity over our health and appearance. Whatever we cannot let go of is precisely what hinders us from entering the fullness of God’s Kingdom.
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
