Breaking Open the Word

By James Cavanagh

Sept. 26: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture readings:

• Amos 6:1, 4-7
• Psalm 146:7-10
• 1 Timothy 6:11-16
• Luke 16:10-31

Overview: 
Last Sunday’s readings dealt with the problem of social injustice. This week’s readings deal with selfishness and greed. In our first reading Amos criticizes the rich who smugly feasted, reclining on their ivory couches while the poor suffered. Yet the rich “were not made ill by the collapse of Joseph.”

“Joseph” here stands for the northern kingdom of Israel which had seceded from the house of David. Israel was “sick” because of the moral collapse of the rich who didn’t care about anyone else as long as they were comfortable. Amos condemns them for their complacency. Also known as sloth or moral indifference, complacency is one of the seven deadly sins because it kills that part of us that enables us to hear the cry of the poor and respond in love.

St. Paul’s words to Timothy in the second reading are reminiscent of Moses’ words to Joshua (Num 27:19).  Paul’s exhortation to “keep the commandment” (Gk: entole) refers to the deposit of faith and the whole truth of Jesus Christ which had been entrusted to the Apostles (e.g., 2 Pt 3:2; 1 Jn 3:23). Paul reminds Timothy of the “confession of faith” he first made when he was baptized; a confession that is the basis of his new calling as Paul’s successor.

Parables all have one thing in common: they all convey judgment in one way or another. Reflecting God’s judgment against the moral decay that was ruining the nation, Jesus tells a parable about a poor man and a rich man. Lazarus hoped that he might receive even a small scrap of food from the rich man’s table, but got nothing.  The fact that the poor man has a name and the rich man doesn’t is itself a statement of God’s judgment. The rich man went to hell not because he was rich, but because he was selfish.

Key verse: “Woe to the complacent in Zion!”

“Catechism of the Catholic Church”:
“'The Church’s love for the poor...is a part of her constant tradition.’ It extends not only to material poverty but also to the many forms of cultural and religious poverty.’ Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use” (Mo. 2444, 2445)

Pope Benedict XVI: 
“The economic sphere is neither ethically neutral, nor inherently inhuman and opposed to society. It is part and parcel of human activity and precisely because it is human, it must be structured and governed in an ethical manner” (“Charity in Truth,” 36).

Life application:
Wealth is not morally neutral.  It is good insofar as it frees you from worry that can hinder spiritual growth. Wealth can also be a great good when it is used to help others and support the Church. But wealth can also lead to complacency. It can make you callous to the needs of others, and it can hurt your relationship with God because it can make you think that you’re above it all and that you don’t need God.

James Cavanagh is director of Evangelization and Catechesis for Metro-Area Parishes of the Denver Archdiocese. For information on subscribing to "Breaking Open the Word, click here. For archives click here.