Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am not sure if any of you read the daily cartoon, Pearls before Swine. The main characters in this cartoon are the rat, the pig, the goat and crocodiles. In last Monday’s clip, the goat asks the pig, “Do you have any religious beliefs? …Things you know in your heart are true?” The pig answered, “Just Nachofication.” The goat asks, “What is Nachofication?” The pig replies, “The belief that everything tastes better with melted cheese.” The goat looks disgusted as he turns around and exclaims, “I was hoping for something deeper than the church of cheese.” Perhaps, the cartoon is a commentary on contemporary society which sometimes seems all too shallow. I certainly do not want to make generic judgments about society, but I certainly want to pose some questions. If someone had to ask you the question, “What is at your core?” or, if your children or your parents or your friend had to ask you, “What are the hallmarks of your character?” or if God had to ask you, “Who are you? Or “Who are you becoming?” what would your answer be?
Here is what struck me as I read today’s second reading: Paul addresses Timothy as “man of God.” In other words, Paul is laying out a vision for Timothy of the kind of person a follower of Christ should be. However, I think that to truly understand this rather solemn address, we must understand the context of Paul’s letter. Timothy was the administrator of the Ephesian community, and among the various instructions Paul offer to him, chapter six was a reminder to the rich people in the community of their and obligations. Let me read the section just prior to and after the passage we have today. “Indeed, religion with contentment is a great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” Then Paul says, “But you, man of God…” Today’s passage is followed by this: “Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life.” If riches are the context of this reading, then, the first reading and the gospel fit in perfectly within this context. In other words, in spite of riches or anything else that can hinder us from becoming who we should be, we must strive to be men and women of God.
Three practical implications:
a) It seems to me that the readings are not about riches but the dangers that riches present. And it is my opinion that the message is very relevant for today. For example, I got this information on National Public Radio’s finance and markets related program, Marketplace. The accumulated wealth of the four hundred of the riches families in the US is $ 1.4 trillion (yes, trillion). Bill Gates is first; the fourth is Christy Walton of Walmart. I do not want to enter into the debate about how they became wealthy or about their business practices or the wages they offer. Here is what Amos, Jesus and Paul are saying – Wealth has the potential to make people complacent. Isn’t that what happened to the people of Israel? Amos preaches to them and says, “Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches, they eat lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall!” (Amos 6: 1a, 4) Isn’t complacency what got the rich man to ignore Lazarus the poor man in the story from today’s gospel? The scriptures are not saying do not be rich; rather, if you happen to be rich, watch out what the possession of wealth can do to you. If you are gorgeous looking or stunningly handsome, watch out for beauty and good looks can do to you. If you are a person in authority, watch out what the exercise of power can do to you.
b) Last Friday, I was celebrating the Eucharist with the kids at IC. I asked the kids, if someone asked them their name what would they say? They all said, “My name.” And then I asked them, “And if someone asked you, “Who are you?” what do you think they want you to say?” A second grader said, “The kind of person I am.” So here is my question for each of us here. What is at your core? What at the hallmarks of your character? Who are you? Who are you becoming? Hopefully each of us is becoming as, Paul suggests, “a man/woman of God.” Paul defines man of God as one who pursues “righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.” That worked for Paul and perhaps Timothy as well. I suggest that each of us take the time this week to work out our own set of virtues that describe us. I hope we can stand before God and confess that indeed we have become men and women of God.
c) The end of the today’s gospel parable is rather alarming. The rich man wanted to come down and warn his family and friends about the consequences of a shallow and complacent life. Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'" In other words, God has given us all the resources, all the examples, all the help we need to develop into men and women of God. At the end of our lives we will not have any excuses, if we did not become the kind of person God intends for us to be. Our journey to eternity began the day we were born. We are at different points of this journey now. The alarming thing is that we do not know when this journey will end. But when it does – we better be men and women of God.
As we gather around this altar we realize that the greatest gift that God has given us is God’s own self. In very few moments we will receive Jesus himself. If each one of us can receive Jesus consciously and allow God to transform us, shape us into men and women and God, then we will make it into eternity with God. Let us worship and our communion with Jesus be a way to become the kind of person that God wants us to be. Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph