Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Tuesday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time

Matthew 19:23-30

Listen to the whole reading — MP3

First reading

Ezekiel 28:1-10

The Lord’s word came again to me, saying, “Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas;’ yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God— behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you; by your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten yourself riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures; by your great wisdom and by your trading you have increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches—” “‘therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of God, therefore, behold, I will bring strangers on you, the terrible of the nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom. They will defile your brightness. They will bring you down to the pit. You will die the death of those who are slain in the heart of the seas. Will you yet say before him who kills you, ‘I am God’? But you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you. You will die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord God.’”

Responsorial psalm

Deuteronomy 32:26-27,27-28,30,35-36

I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, the Lord has not done all this.’” were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, the Lord has not done all this.’” For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them. How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had delivered them up? Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.” For the Lord will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.

Gospel

Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter answered, “Behold, we have left everything, and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that you who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive one hundred times, and will inherit eternal life. But many will be last who are first; and first who are last.

Lectio

The prince of Tyre has done nothing that our world would call wrong. He was wise, he traded well, he grew rich, and somewhere in that accumulation his heart quietly moved from *I have gained* to *I am a god*. The tragedy is not that he stole or murdered — it is that his success became the thing he worshipped, the seat he sat in, the place where he no longer needed to look up. And the Lord's answer is almost gentle in its clarity: *yet you are man, and not God*. Not a curse so much as a return to reality.

This is exactly the difficulty Jesus names when he speaks of the camel and the needle's eye. It is not that money is evil, but that riches — any riches, including gifts and talents and reputations — have a strange gravity. They convince us we can save ourselves, that our hand is exalted and we have arranged our own security. The disciples are astonished precisely because they had assumed wealth was a sign of blessing. And Jesus does not soften it. He simply moves the whole question onto other ground: *with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.* Salvation was never something we could purchase or earn or secure. It can only be received.

And then Peter, so honestly, so much like us: *we have left everything — what then will we have?* Even in surrender he is still counting, still asking after the return on his investment. Jesus does not scold him. He promises a hundredfold, and then adds the quiet warning that many who are first will be last. The letting-go is real, and so is the gift — but the moment we start tallying what we're owed, we've slipped back into the seat of Tyre.

Where in your life have you begun to say quietly, *my hand has done this* — a success or security you've stopped thanking God for and started leaning on instead?

Like Peter, what is the thing you've given up for God that you secretly keep a ledger of, waiting to see what you'll get in return?

Saint of the day

St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Priest (1901-1952)

Ora reads this aloud, every morning, free. Ora