WIGGLING THROUGH
THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Wiggling Through the Eye of
the Needle.”
In today’s gospel Jesus the teacher says to his students,
his disciples, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who
is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
PROP
In my Bible here - in the gospel of Mark - which we just heard
I have a needle. I keep it inside clear see through tape. I want to see it -
but I don’t want to be stabbed by it.
This weekend some preachers will say the eye of the
needle was a small gate in Jerusalem - that was very narrow. You had to bend
down low and squeeze and wiggle your way into the city through this entrance.
It was a short cut. A camel would have a hard time getting in that way. If you
had a camel, you’d have to go through one of the main gates - probably get
taxed - and checked.
Other preachers will say the eye of the needle is a hole
along the edge of a boat to pull a rope through - a heavy rope that gets tied
to a bollard or iron post on a pier - to tie up a ship - when docked.
I like the interpretation that is was simply a needle
with an eye in it.
And Jesus is using metaphor, image and exaggeration to
get across the effort it takes to: get
into the kingdom of God. Come on in. Come through the eye of the needle. Practice
the messages I’m teaching you about being a member of the kingdom - here and
hereafter.
This rich man wants the answer - the secret of happiness
- the secret of how to inherit eternal life. Jesus does what every rabbi would
do - tell him to keep the commandments.
He says, “I keep them all.”
So Jesus says to him, “Okay, want more? Go, sell what you
have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come,
follow me.”
Then Mark tell us, “At that statement his face fell, and
he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”
Jesus knew being overweight with stuff - can slow us
down.
Jesus knew possessions can possess us.
I loved a scene in a short film I once saw on TV on the
Sermon on the Mount. In the background one hears Jesus saying Matthew 7:13,
“Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to perdition is wide and
spacious, and many take it, but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads
to life, and only a few find it.” On the screen one sees a guy coming up a
street with 2 big suitcases - and a gigantic backpack. He comes to a very
narrow doorway and tries to get in - while still holding his bags and pack. He
shrugs his shoulders backs out - and continues up the street. Then a little kid
with only himself in hand comes running up the street and shoots right into
that house.
I could only hear in my memory, “Unless you be like
little children - you won’t get into the kingdom of God.”
TODAY’S
READINGS
The title of my homily is, “Wiggling Through the Eye of
the Needle.”
Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom has the
same message in its own way. The author says he prayed for answers about what life was all about. He realized it
wasn’t silver or gold. He prayed and he got prudence and wisdom. They were
life’s true riches.
If you were given one or two wishes that you could pray
for, what would you ask for? What would you pray for? You know those wisdom stories that are part
of every tradition: You got one wish? Or you got two wishes. Or you got three
wishes? What would they be?
Win the lottery?
Be set for life? Perfect marriage and family?
This week think of that question.
Today’s second reading has a two edged sword as its key
metaphor.
That’s a lot more than a needle. The author of the Letter
to the Hebrews says the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any
two-edged sword. It cuts. It penetrates between soul and spirit, joints and
marrow. It discerns what’s going on in the heart. It gets at our thoughts and
reflections. Nothing is concealed. Everything is naked and exposed to the eyes
of him or her to whom we must render an account.
Besides the eye of the needle - the Bible gets us to see
what’s underneath. It does what Jesus did to this man in today’s gospel.
SO MY BIG QUESTION
In our lives, has there been any moments for us, like
this moment for the man in today’s gospel - or the author of the Book of Wisdom
or the message in the Letter to the Hebrews?
Has there been a moment when you realized the answer -
but it was too tough and we walked away sad?
Maybe it’s time to revisit those moments and memories.
THREE EXAMPLES
Let me give try to trigger what I’m trying to get at by
three examples.
In 1984 I went to Vienna, Austria, to get in touch with
where the Redemptorists were back in 1832 when they sent 3 priests and 3
brothers to work for the German immigrants in America who lacked priests.
Another priest was going to give me a grand tour, but he
got stuck in Rome with a meeting. While walking around Vienna I spotted this
enormous art museum. I went in to check out the paintings - many of them
enormous and old - with great gold gilded frames.
I walked into this big room that had a lot of classic
marble sculptures.
Over in a corner I spotted a statue of a young woman -
naked and beautiful - which we’ve all spotted in art museums. She was about 20
years old in the prime of her youth. Then I noticed there was another statue of
her - if I walked to my left and around to another side of her. Now she was
about 45 or 50 still good looking - same woman. Then I could see there was
another statue of her - also naked - but in her old age.
“Oooh,” I thought.
Relax, I tried to find on line the name of this
combination sculpture, perhaps, “The Three Ages” but couldn’t find it. But I did find a
similar set of 3 of males - aging. It can be found in the Prado, the famous art
museum in Madrid.
I stepped back and began to wonder what others would
think as they saw these 3 statues.
Off to the side - about 15 yards away - was a wooden
bench. I went over to it and watched people as they approached the young woman.
Young couples would move closer to each other - or elbow the other. Smiles and
laughter were there. Next they got more serious as they got to middle age. Then came the, “Oh my God!” faces as they saw
old age.
I’ve often wondered if that statue became a moment of
insight, conversion, rethinking life or what have you for various people down
through the years.
The second image was similar. It was something I spotted
in an article about a special exhibit going on in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York City. It was about rings and things from the 1400’s. One object was the so called, “Gemini Ring.”
It’s twin rings and each ring has a tiny little, little
box that has tiny sculptures inside. One has a tiny, tiny statue of a tiny,
tiny baby. The other has a tiny, tiny,
sculpture of a skull.
From birth to death, I love you. From birth to death, the journey of life, how
am I living it.
Would that ring hit home the simple reality of life: from
birth to death?
Third example. This would be a story I began to think
about - first draft about - yesterday.
A wife says to her husband, “I’m putting on some weight.
I gotta do some exercise. I hear the step master is the best indoor exercise
equipment. I’d love to get one.”
The husband is telling this to a guy at work.
He says, “You never buy these exercise gadgets. Just go out at any
Saturday where there is a yard sale and you’ll get a stair master for $20
bucks.”
So to save money he checked the papers and found 5 yard
sales. On Saturday morning he went out
by himself and checked all 5. No luck.
But he did pick up a neat wooden statue of St. Francis of
Assisi.
It was about 3 feet high - and had rich brown wood - a
very good sculpture.
He noticed something had broken off from the base - at
Francis’ feet.
He asked the husband running the yard sale, “How much for
the statue?”
“Two bucks.”
On the way home he stopped into Home Depot to get some
wood oil for his new statute. He cleaned
it and rubbed in the oil. Nice.
His wife asked, “Why did you buy that. You don’t go to
church anymore.”
“Well, I can’t resist a bargain and this pope, Pope
Francis, is big on St. Francis.”
It didn’t get him back to church - but it intrigued him -
what was at the base of this statue.
Well, his brother has a slight heart attack - and he goes
to see him in the hospital.
Coming down the corridor is this priest.
He stops and says, “Father can I ask you a question?”
“Go for it,” the priest says, “people always stop and ask
religious questions.”
“Well, Father, I bought this neat statue of St. Francis.
It’s all wood - beautiful wood - but something is missing at St. Francis’
feet.”
The priest paused and said, “Well it could be a bird or a
dog or a wolf or a small deer or it could be a skull.”
“A skull? Why a skull?”
“Well, Francis got it touch with the big mysteries of
life and he called Death ‘Sister Death’.”
“Oh.”
Then the priest says, “Wait a minute?” He takes out his
iPhone and types into Google “Statues of St. Francis.”
He adds, “I could have asked Siri - but I want to show
you some pictures.”
Then scrolling along he asked the man, “Is this your
statue?”
“No.”
“No.”
“No. - Wait, that’s it.”
The priest says, “That’s probably an older statue then,
because they switched from skulls to birds at some point. Not as tough.”
Then the priest says, “Where did you get the statue?
Family?”
“No, I got it for two bucks at a yard sale.”
“Good move,” said the priest. “What parish do you belong
to?”
“Ooops,” the guy says, “I dropped out of church years
ago.”
Silence…..
“But I like the statue and it triggered thoughts about
how good Pope Francis.”
Well that was the beginning of a wonderful thing - as the
ending of Casablanca goes.
The man told his wife about meeting the priest - and what
was missing was the skull.
She says, “So are you going back to church? You’re the
Catholic.”
All this got to him … death… life… his brother’s heart
attack … meeting the priest … the statue… his wife’s comment. She wasn’t
Catholic.
In about two months he stopped in to see that priest and
he got himself back into God’s good graces.
And now when he goes by his statue of St. Francis, he
taps it on the head and says, “Thanks Frank!"
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily was, “Wiggling Through the Eye of
the Needle.”
Hey, it’s never too late to use some wiggle room and get
oneself closer to God. Amen.
