The Camel And The Rich Man

Dicit in Evangelio Dominus Jesus Christus: Amen dico vobis, facilius est transire camelum per foramen acus, quam divitem intrare in regnum coelorum. Quae sententia vereor ne forte vobis conveniat, qui divitias saeculi hujus aut habetis aut quaertis. Sicut enim cameli animal, quod est tortuosum atque deforme, perversitas ipsa corporis per angustissimam acus cavernam praeterite non patitur: ita et divites oneratos avaritia, et cupiditate foedatos, ipsa vitae deformitas per arctam viam regni minime introire permittit. Ait enim idem Dominus: Arcta et angusta via est quae ducit ad vitam. Igitur in camelo difficultatem introitus praestat habitudo membrorum, In divite autem impedimentum magnitudo efficit peccatorum. Gibbus enim quidam est animae, turpe quod cogitate vel facere, ac mentis quaedam tortuosa deformitas, immundis rebus semper intendere, et ab Ecclesiae sancto limine curis saecularibus avocari. Unde mihi videtur hanc deformitatem corporis propheta spiritualiter elocutus, foeditatem morum potius indicasse, cum dicit: non sic glorietur gibberosus, sicut rectus. Quasi diceret: non ita glorietur peccator vitiorum suorum pravitate distortus, sicut gloriatur iustus conscientiae bonae simplicitate directus. Quamvis enim, o peccator, proceritate corporis gaudeas, quamvis scapularum tuarum aequalitate laeteris, anima tamen tua tuorum pravitate deformis est. Recte ergo camelo comparatus est dives. Siquidem illum a transitu acus corporis crassitudo revocat, hunc ab ingressu Ecclesiae patrimonii sollicitudo detentat. Et sicut illum parvum foramen non capit oneratum mole membrorum, ita et hunc introitus sanctus non suscipit gravatum cumulo delictorum. Uterque habet propriam sarcinam suam: ille oneratus est carnibus, iste peccatis; et sicut ille inhabilis est angustissimae acus cavernae, ita et hic inconveniens est beatissimo Dei regno; nisi quod camelum corpore incompositum natura, hunc autem pravum voluntas efficit. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CXVII, De Camelo Source: Migne PL 57.525c-528b

The Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel: 'Truly I say to you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 1 Which passage causes me to fear lest perhaps it befit you, who either hold or seek the riches of this world. As the camel is an animal which is twisted and deformed, which distortion of the body does not allow it to go through the hole of the needle, so the rich man is burdened by avarice, and defiled by lust for wealth, which deformity of life does not allow him in any way to come into the kingdom by the narrow way. For the Lord says, 'Narrow and hard the way which leads to life.' 2 Therefore in the camel the difficulty of entry is given by the disposition of the members, and with the rich man the greatness of the impediment is the gravity of sins. Humped indeed is that soul which thinks and acts viley, and by the twisted deformity of the mind is always attentive to foul things, and from the theshold of the Church is called away to worldly cares. Whence it seems to me that this deformity of body which the Prophet spiritually spoke on, was rather to indicate the foulness of conduct, when he said: 'It is not glorious to be humped but straight.' As if he had said: 'Let not the twisted sinner glory in the perversity of his vices, as the straight righteous man glories in the simplicity of a good conscience. For although, O sinner, you rejoice in the greatness of the body, although you take joy in the squareness of your shoulders, yet your soul is deformed by depravity.' Rightly, therefore, the rich man is compared to the camel. For just as the latter is prevented from passing through the eye of the needle by the greatness of its body, so the former by his cares is denied entry to the inheritance of the Church. And as the little eye is not gained by the latter's members burdened with weight, so even the former shall not receive entry into sanctitude on account of the heaped weight of his crimes. For both have their own burdens, the latter is burdened with flesh, the former with sin; and as the latter cannot fit through the most narrow aperture of the needle, so even the former is unfit for the most blessed kingdom of heaven. As the camel is made clumsy by the nature of its body, so the rich man is depraved by his will. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 117, On The Camel 1 Mt 19.24 2 Mt 7.14