Another old homily from 1991

I preached this homily on last Sunday's readings (26th Sunday of Ordinary Time) way back on September 27, 1991. In the interest of full disclosure, I stole the opening story from one of the faculty members at the seminary.

I once overheard two ladies having a conversation at K-Mart a couple of years ago. One of them was saying how happy she was that their old pastor had retired beacuse all he did was tell the parishioners that they were all going to hell. Her friend then asked her if the new pastor was any better, and she answered, "Yes. He's a much nicer, friendlier guy." Her friend asked her again, "He doesn't tell you that you're all going to hell?" And she answered, "Well, yeah, he does. But he doesn't seem so happy about it."

Like the pastors in this story, it seems that the Bible loves to tell rich people that they are going to hell. Besides today's scathing second reading, there are many sayings of Jesus which suggest that having wealth makes one incapable of entering into heaven. What is the Bible's problem with rich people? Why are the authors of Sacred Scripture so quick to condemn them?

In today's reading, James' major complaint against the rich is that they did not pay their employees a just wage. These rich people gained their wealth by underpaying those who worked the land for them. They lived luxurious and comfortable lives while those who earned money for them worked long, hard hours with nothing to show for it. James warns them that God is not blind to such blatant injustice but will comfort the oppressed laborers by punishing thier wicked employers.

The conviction of early Christianity was that the rich person's plenty came at the expense of the poor. For example, Saint Augustine wrote in the fourth century that anyone who has more food, money or clothing than he or she needs has stolen it from the poor. What the early Christians could not understand was how anyone could eat too much or throw away food if they knew someone else was starving. Because they believed that the goods of the earth were given by God for everyone to enjoy no one had a right to horde if others were starving or in debt. Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked became the number one way of witnessing to their faith in God who loves and watches over the poor and those who are denied their rights.

As citizens of a country with many material blessings we have alot to be thankful for. Most people in this country never worry about having enough to eat. Most people have enough clothes to keep them warm and some kind of home or apartment to live in. But we cannot thank God for the blessings we enjoy without remembering those people in our country and in our world who do worry about how they will feed their families and who may have nowhere to live because they were evicted from their apartments so the landlord could turn them into condominiums.

The God who gave us all that we have and the plenty which we enjoy puts only one demand on us who receive them - that we show our appreciation by sharing those blessings with others, especially with those who are most in need.