…Contrary to what you are thinking in your mind, Jesus was not speaking about a camel fitting through a sewing needle.

…the entire Christian Church since the beginning, including the protestant reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin, understood the importance and veneration that we should have for the Mother of God. Why is it lost now? What happened to this important part of our faith? That is a question that no one seems able to answer with any credibility…

In some cases, people cannot leave to seek out the physical and spiritual food their bodies and souls need.  This is especially for the men and women in the jails and prisons throughout our country.  Many of them are seeking to fill their spiritual needs but are unable to leave the deserted place where they live.  It would be easy for us to simply say, “Go somewhere else to get your spiritual nourishment.  There are too many of you behind bars for us to successfully minister to with our limited resources.”  Even though our response may seem practical, it is by no means Christian.

There is a famous life-saving story from the life of St. Ephraim about a woman who was selling herself on the streets of a major city to the men who were passing by.  In the middle of the day, she happened to see St. Ephraim passing by in the midst of the city.  Seeing a challenge in front of her, she went up to the ascetic and began to tempt him…and in turn, the holy monk negotiated a price and pretended to acquiesce to her advances. 

“I require one thing” he said.  “Let us sin together at noon in the central square of the city.”

The woman was appalled and protested: “No, we can’t do that!”

“Why?” St. Ephraim asked.

“Because people will see us.”

“But, woman, wherever we go, even if we shut ourselves in the darkest cave, God sees us.  We’re ashamed to be seen by people, yet we are not ashamed to be seen by God?” To this, the sinful woman’s life was transformed, as she repented and was saved by the words of this Holy Ascetic.