"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God". This is taught by Jesus in the Beatitudes or The Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:3).

It is of little wonder then that Jesus should repeat this teaching to His disciples in today's Gospel by saying that "it is harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Why? Oftentimes as people get rich they tend to forget the source of their wealth. They get all puffed-up with pride, attributing their success and their wealth to their own merits - their own skills and wisdom. They are least bothered about the means by which they arrive at possessing wealth. The self becomes more important and one sin leads to another. They soon see themselves as gods. They worship the idolatorous self and thus break the very first commandment of God.

In Ezekiel we see a steadfast God who is true to His words and commands, "Worship no God, but me . . .! I tolerate no rival . . . I will bring punishment to all those who hate me." (Ez. 50:3-5). And when He allows punishment to come upon us, who have gone astray, does He cease to be a loving God? Does He contradict Himself? No! He is merely allowing us to see our own true condition as mortal men and women and our desperate need of Him, our one and only God.