The Hundredfold Life

Gospel Reflection for Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 - Matthew 19:23-30

The Rich Young Man Went Away Sorrowful, 1886–1896. James Tissot.

Yesterday we saw a young, rich man walk away from Jesus full of sorrow for he had many possessions. He claimed to follow all the commandments but asked if he lacked anything still to have eternal life. Jesus’s response was difficult but He didn’t shy away from it “If you would be perfect, go, sell all you possess…”

Today we get to focus on the clarification Jesus provides His disciples and us. Jesus tells His disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Can you imagine the dismay of all who heard this? Shocked, the disciples ask “who then can be saved?”

It’s a question we all should reflect on. We live in a world that treasures comfort — suffering is to be avoided at all costs. Wealth and success are often seen as a means for this comfort, and so many strive for them. None of these are bad in themselves, but when we hold them too tightly, they begin to take hold in us.

This comfort — whether it be money, possessions, or even securities we build up for ourselves — has a way of convincing us that we are self-sufficient. That we don’t need God quite so much. That those who don’t strive after these things are foolish.

The disciple’s question is met with one of the most reassuring lines in all of Scripture “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

On our own, we cannot hope to pry loose our deep desire for control, for wealth, for comfort.

But God can.

His grace makes us free enough to choose Him over wealth and over comfort — daily.

Peter, always quick to speak from the heart, says, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?”

It’s such an honest question, isn’t it? When we make sacrifices in our lives for the sake of faith, when we loosen our grip on comfort and control, we can’t help but wonder if it’s worth it. There is always that moment of doubt.

And Jesus does not scold Peter for questioning. Instead, He offers a promise, one that extends to us: those who leave behind their attachments for the sake of Christ will receive far more than they could imagine, not only in eternal life, but even now in the hundredfold blessings of belonging to Him and to His Church.

Today’s Gospel doesn’t just warn us of what wealth and comfort can do to the heart, it reminds us that our God is generous. That He takes what we surrender, what we offer up to Him, and gives back more than we ever thought possible. It may not be what we think it ought to be or what we always hope for it to be, but blessings pour out for us, grace is made available to us, and God is present with us.

What seems impossible for us becomes possible with Him.

This is not a one-sided exchange. Life with Christ is a living and breathing relationship. We must be willing to hold the things in our lives loosely, to let go of control, to give space for the Spirit to move where He wills. We must make room in our lives and our hearts for Christ to reign, more than our comforts, more than our securities, more than our plans. Only then do we discover the freedom that He offers.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
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.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to him in reply,
“We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”