Leave greed behind to be equal to the angels; Angels: Day 268

There are countless poor people and only a few rich. So why did the apostles, all of them poor, worry about their own salvation when Jesus told them how hard it was for a rich man to get into Heaven? Because, says, St. Augustine, they knew he was really talking about covetousness.

When they were saying, “Who then can be saved?” were they thinking of the few rich people? Had they forgotten how many poor people there are? Couldn’t they say to themselves, “So it’s hard—even impossible—for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But won’t all the poor people go to Heaven, and only the rich be left out?”

There are not many rich people, but there are countless thousands of poor people. We won’t look at their clothes in the kingdom of Heaven, but the radiance of righteousness will be everyone’s garment. So there will be poor people equal to the angels of God. Clothed with the stoles of immortality, they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Then why should we worry or fuss about a few rich people?

This isn’t what the apostles thought. As soon as the Lord had said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” they said to themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

What did they mean by that?

They weren’t talking about actual wealth. They were talking about desires. They saw that even the poor who don’t have money do have covetousness. And Jesus wasn’t talking about the rich man’s money, but about covetousness.

Abraham had plenty of gold, silver, livestock, servants. He was a rich man. And Lazarus—a poor man—is carried to Abraham’s bosom. The poor man is carried to the rich man’s bosom—because they are both rich men in God, and both poor men in greed.

–St. Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 52, 10

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .

We live in a very materialistic society. In keeping purely spiritual company, we will ourselves become more like the pure spirits.

CLOSING PRAYER

Angel of God, deliver me from covetousness, and direct my gaze always  toward Heaven.

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