In this homily about Luke 18:18-27, Fr. Matthew Howell talks about how we need to meet Christ "empty handed" when we die. He starts by reading the opening two pages of a homily on this gospel reading from St. Nikolai Velimirovic (Homilies, Vol. 2, pp. 308-309). St. Nikolai sets up an image of a sinking ship that has someone who gets into a lifeboat and then begins loading as many things as possible from the sinking ship into the boat, ultimately causing his own demise. St. Nikolai says that only those who "swim empty handed" are able to reach out to the captain, Jesus Christ, and be rescued. Fr. Matthew goes on to talk about how our love of riches keeps us from loving God.
