On Wealth and the Wealthy (Matthew 19, 16-26) [2]

Saint Luke the Doctor

To the young man who wished to follow him, Christ said that, if he wanted to be perfect, he should go and sell all his belongings and give the proceeds to the poor. He would then have treasure in heaven and would be able to follow Christ (Matth. 19, 21). When the young man heard this he went away greatly saddened, because he was very rich  and couldn’t do what the Lord asked him to.

Why did the Lord require him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor? Because it’s incompatible to have great riches and still live in accordance with Christ’s commandments. How can you be meek and humble, shedding tears over what others are suffering, while at the same time increasing your wealth many times over, building new houses, buying new horses and expensive clothes. Obviously you can’t because if you’re sympathetic towards others, you’ll share what you have with them. If you keep your wealth for yourself, this means that you love yourself more…