Tuesday of week 20 in Ordinary Time
First Reading
Ezechiel 28:1–10
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am God, and I sit in the chair of God in the heart of the sea: whereas thou art a man, and not God: and hast set thy heart as if it were the heart of God.
Behold thou art wiser than Daniel: no secret is hid from thee. In thy wisdom and thy understanding thou hast made thyself strong: and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures. By the greatness of thy wisdom, and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy strength: and thy heart is lifted up with thy strength.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is lifted up as the heart of God: Therefore behold, I will bring upon thee strangers the strongest of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy beauty.
They shall kill thee, and bring thee down: and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain in the heart of the sea. Wilt thou yet say before them that slay thee: I am God; whereas thou art a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay thee? Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
Responsorial Psalm
Deuteronomy 32:26–28, 30, 35–36
It is I who deal death and give life.
I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men. But for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it: lest perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things. They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom.
It is I who deal death and give life.
How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand? Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?
It is I who deal death and give life.
Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their foot may slide: the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come. The Lord will judge his people, and will have mercy on his servants: he shall see that their hand is weakened, and that they who were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed.
It is I who deal death and give life.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich but he became poor to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Matthew 19:23–30
Then Jesus said to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And when they had heard this, the disciples wondered very much, saying: Who then can be saved? And Jesus beholding, said to them: With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.
Then Peter answering, said to him: Behold we have left all things, and have followed thee: what therefore shall we have? And Jesus said to them: Amen, I say to you, that you, who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting. And many that are first, shall be last: and the last shall be first.
Reflection
The prince of Tyre has mistaken ability for sovereignty. His wisdom has produced wealth, his trade has increased his power, and his success has convinced him that he occupies the place of God. Ezechiel does not condemn intelligence, commerce or material prosperity in themselves. The judgement falls upon the lie created from them: “I am God.” What began as achievement has become self-worship.
The responsorial canticle exposes the same deception at the level of a nation. People look at victory and say, “Our mighty hand” has accomplished it. They treat God as absent because their own strength is visible. Yet Moses insists that history is not finally governed by human power. God judges, God shows mercy, and God remains Lord when every source of earthly security is weakened.
This helps us hear the severity of Jesus’ warning about riches. Wealth can do more than purchase comfort; it can train the heart to imagine that every need has a human solution. The danger is not simply having possessions but allowing them to form a closed world in which dependence upon God appears unnecessary. The Catechism therefore teaches that detachment from riches is necessary for entering the kingdom of heaven (CCC 2544–2547). Christian poverty is not contempt for created goods. It is freedom from treating them as our saviour.
The disciples understand that Jesus has described something humanly impossible. Their question, “Who then can be saved?” is not answered with a better technique for renunciation. Jesus directs them to grace: “With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible.” Salvation is not the final achievement of a disciplined person. It is God’s gift, received through faith and lived through cooperation with grace. As the Catechism explains, even our preparation to receive grace is already the work of grace (CCC 1996–2001).
Peter’s question reveals that attachment can survive even after possessions have been surrendered. “What therefore shall we have?” He has left everything, yet part of him still calculates the return. Jesus does promise an abundance beyond what has been relinquished, together with everlasting life. But he also overturns the system by which people measure importance: “Many that are first, shall be last: and the last shall be first.” The kingdom cannot be reduced to a transaction in which sacrifice purchases status.
These readings ask where self-sufficiency has entered our own thinking. We may never claim openly to be divine, but we can behave as though our intelligence, income, reputation or discipline places life under our control. The answer is not to deny our gifts. It is to recognise them as gifts, use them in service, and refuse to demand from them what only God can give.
One line to carry today:
What I possess must never persuade me that I possess my own life.
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