The Illusion of Independence

Homily for Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel’s message for today is simple and straightforward. Whenever we trust in our own strength, our own cleverness, or our own security, we lose sight of the One who is our true life. And whenever we return to Him, even with empty hands, He restores us.

The prince of Tyre believes he is untouchable — wise, powerful, secure. He has mistaken prosperity for divinity. Ezekiel’s message is stark: when the human heart begins to say, “I am a god,” it has already begun to collapse from within. Pride blinds; self‑reliance isolates; and the very gifts God has given become the tools of our undoing.

The Lord is not cruel; God is truthful. The prince is asked to remember that we are creatures, not gods, and that our life depends entirely on Him.

The canticle from Deuteronomy remembers how Israel wandered, how they forgot the One who carried them. Yet even in judgment, God is restrained. God will not let His people be destroyed. His justice is never separated from His mercy. God wounds only to heal and corrects only to restore. This is the same God who speaks to us today — patient, faithful, unwilling to abandon.

Jesus tells His disciples that wealth makes entering the Kingdom difficult — not because wealth is evil, but because it tempts the heart to trust in itself. The rich young man walked away sorrowful because he could not release what he believed secured his life.

Peter, speaking for all of us, wonders what happens to those who do let go. Jesus answers with quiet generosity: anyone who releases what they cling to for the sake of the Gospel receives far more — not in possessions, but in belonging, in communion, in the life of God. The Kingdom is not gained by strength; it is received by surrender.

This message is familiar and tender. We have already chosen the path of letting go — of possessions, of self‑importance, of the illusion of control. Yet even in religious life, subtle forms of self‑reliance can creep in: the desire to manage everything, to fix everything, to carry burdens alone.

Today’s readings invite all of us — brothers, sisters, and lay faithful — to return to the simplicity of trust. God is God. We are not. And that truth is not frightening; it is freeing.

The prince of Tyre trusted in himself and fell. The people of Israel forgot God and were corrected. Peter wondered what surrender would cost, and Jesus revealed what it gives.