8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Sunday 26th February 2017)
Whose side are you on? – (Matthew 6:24-34)
Alexander, a wealthy landlord, awoke with a start to the sound of the church bell ringing. Afraid to go asleep, he had lain awake all night, dozing off at sunrise. On the previous day, a holy person had passed through the village saying “The richest person in this valley will die tonight”. Naturally, Alexander thought this referred to himself, hence his sleepless night. He went down to the village to ask why the bell was ringing. Somebody else had died, somebody he didn’t know, but who was known to God, the only Master she served.
Two of the points Jesus makes today are contained in the parable of the sower and the seed. (Mk 4:18-19) Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Jesus tells us to entrust all the “worries of this life”, to our loving Father, who knows what we need. He does not deny the reality of human needs (Mt 6:32), but forbids making them the object of anxious care and, in effect, becoming their slave.
Next, He tells us that we “cannot serve both God and mammon” (Aramaic for wealth or property). Why not? The Gospels have plenty teachings on this theme, e.g., the rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31); the rich fool who wanted to build more barns to hold his harvest (Lk12:16-21); What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose their very self? (Lk 9:25).
St Paul, in his letter to Timothy (6:7-10) makes it clear: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs”. “Wandered from the faith” is an echo of Jesus’ words about the seed among thorns, where the word of God was choked by the deceitfulness of wealth and bore no fruit. In the Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius tells us that there are three steps along this particular path of temptation. The first is attachment to riches, the second is to honour, and the third is pride; from these three steps we can be enticed to other vices.
A tiny minority of people control the vast majority of the wealth and resources of the world, while millions suffer through lack of basic needs. “There is enough for everybody’s need, but not for everybody’s greed” (St Teresa of Calcutta). The results of greed are all around us, causing human suffering and great damage to our planet. In His ministry of healing the suffering, Jesus brought the Kingdom into the here and now. Can we? And all else will be given to us.
Fr. Kevin O’Rourke S.J.