26th Ordinal Sunday – C; Sept 25, 2016 @ StB
Am 6:1-7; 1 Tm 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31
The Abuse of Our Greatest Wealth!
Patrick D. Harris, deacon
Our Scripture readings today clearly concern our wealth; however, the teaching might surprise us compared to what we might first think when we hear the word “wealth.”
Our first reading comes from the prophet Amos. Amos was sent by God to the Hebrew Kingdom of Judah in the 8th century BCE. At that time, the southern Kingdom of Judah had a sister nation, the northern Kingdom of Israel, who was under attack by Assyria. Despite the attack on Northern Israel, southern Judah lived the easy life of fancy furniture, expensive food, and much wine. Judah abused its wealth by not helping northern Israel. Amos says to Judah, and to us, that those who abuse the goods of this life---will truly lose everything! This raises critical questions for us. What is our wealth? How do we abuse our wealth?
In our second reading, Paul writes to Timothy, who had been “ordained” by Paul to lead the Church at Ephesus. Paul says that one’s goodness must be seen in the life of a Believer. A Christian must have righteousness. That is, a Christian must be steadfast; a Christian must always show their faith, especially when we must sacrifice to help others. A true Christian will make visible their faith through helping the needy. That raises a question. Who are the needy in our lives?
In today’s Gospel from Luke, Jesus gives a great parable about the nature of God. In the time of Jesus, knowing the name of a person meant that you had an extremely close relationship in which you could count completely on them, regardless of your situation. In today’s Gospel parable about a rich man and a poor man, Jesus names the poor man, but leaves the rich man nameless.
That is shocking! In our world today, everyone knows the name of the football star, the famous, and the rich of our country. In contrast, Jesus says that God knows the name, that God values a person, not by their wealth, but by a different measurement. Does God know our name? Does God have an extremely close relationship with us? How does God measure the closeness of our relationship?
The answers to these questions are surprising! Yes, the goods of this life include wealth. And, we are not to abuse our wealth by hoarding, rather than using wealth to create good for others. But, the wealth of this life also includes “spiritual goods!” How do we abuse the spiritual goods of our life? Our spiritual goods derive from our faith in God. How do we abuse our faith in God? God gives us faith so that we can give our faith away to the spiritual needy. We abuse our spiritual wealth from God when we fail to give away our faith to those in need!
Who are the needy in our lives? Yes, the needy are the ones who have few, if any, material goods in this life. But, Who are the spiritual needy? They are the ones who need to experience the love and joy of God! As we find in our Mercy Passport, the spiritual needy are people who are unaware of God’s unlimited mercy and love, regardless of what they have done or failed to do in the past. The spiritual needy are those who have little confidence that God will bring them joy. The spiritual needy are those who cannot forget or forgive the hurts by others.
How do we abuse our spiritual goods, our Faith? We abuse our Faith when we fail to give away our faith to those in spiritual need! How do we give away our Faith to the spiritual needy?
On April 8, 2016, Pope Francis issued his Apostolic Exhortation on “The Joy of Love.” In this Exhortation, Pope Francis affirms the sacredness and permanence of a true Sacrament of Marriage. But, the Pope goes on to say that many in civil marriages outside the Church after a divorce, find themselves in a nearly impossible bind. If their second marriage has proven faithful, life-giving, and fruitful, how can they simply walk out on their second civil marriage without causing more sadness, pain and evil? Pope Francis says that answers in life are not black and white. According to Francis, “it can no longer simply be said that all those in these (church non-sanctioned) situations are living in mortal sin. No longer can we say that they cannot have (church-opportunity for) sanctifying grace.” The ministers’ and members of the Church cannot turn our backs on those in spiritual need. If we do, we have abused our Faith from God! So, How do we give away our Faith to the spiritual needy? We give away our Faith not just by tolerating, but by inviting, by welcoming the spiritual needy into our Church.
On September 12, 2016, just 13 days ago, Pope Francis publicly thanked the Bishops of Argentina for their interpretation of his Apostolic Exhortation on “The Joy of Love.” Pope Francis said that “the Argentina Bishops captured the full meaning of his Exhortation.” The Argentina Bishops interpreted Francis’ Exhortation to mean that it is not the Church who “gives permission” for someone to receive the sacraments, including the Eucharist. The Church invites all into our Church, including “couples who are living together outside of marriage and those who have divorced and remarried without an annulment.” We the Church are to journey with them in their discernment of what is morally right for them in their situation. We are not to discern for them. We are to travel with and guide them in their discernment of what is morally right for them. Their discernment could lead them to determine in Good Conscience that they may receive the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation.
How does God measure the closeness of our relationship? God measures our relationship by our efforts in Works of Mercy as shown in our Mercy Passport. God measures by how much we give away our Faith to the Spiritual Needy. Who are the spiritual needy? According to Francis, they include those who live together outside of marriage; those in a civil marriage after a divorce without annulment; those who have been excluded because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender; and those who have been denounced because they favor abortion, the death penalty, or assisted death. Yes, they are welcomed in our Church. Having said that however, we must be sure that one thing is also very clear. The Argentina Bishops and Pope Francis did not say that the Church condones the behaviors and acts of the spiritual needy! The Church does not minimize or diminish its teachings on morally right behavior.
Brothers and Sisters, our God stands before us with wide-outstretched arms. Will we crucify Jesus on a cross by excluding the spiritual needy from our Church? Or, will we hug and embrace Jesus by giving away our Faith in God to those in Spiritual need? Which of these are we going to do as we move forward from this Church Year of Mercy?
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