20220224 JUDGEMENT ON THE RICH AND POWERFUL
24 February, 2022, Thursday, Week 7 in Ordinary Time
First reading | James 5:1-6 © |
The Lord hears the cries of those you have cheated
An answer for the rich. Start crying, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your wealth is all rotting, your clothes are all eaten up by moths. All your gold and your silver are corroding away, and the same corrosion will be your own sentence, and eat into your body. It was a burning fire that you stored up as your treasure for the last days. Labourers mowed your fields, and you cheated them – listen to the wages that you kept back, calling out; realise that the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. On earth you have had a life of comfort and luxury; in the time of slaughter you went on eating to your heart’s content. It was you who condemned the innocent and killed them; they offered you no resistance.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 48(49):14-20 © |
How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This is the lot of those who trust in themselves,
who have others at their beck and call.
Like sheep they are driven to the grave,
where death shall be their shepherd
and the just shall become their rulers.
How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
With the morning their outward show vanishes
and the grave becomes their home.
But God will ransom me from death
and take my soul to himself.
How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Then do not fear when a man grows rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
He takes nothing with him when he dies,
his glory does not follow him below.
How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Though he flattered himself while he lived:
‘Men will praise me for all my success,’
yet he will go to join his fathers,
who will never see the light any more.
How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk8:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.1Th2:13 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept God’s message for what it really is:
God’s message, and not some human thinking.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 9:41-50 © |
If your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
‘But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone round his neck. And if your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out. And if your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye should cause you to sin, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm does not die nor their fire go out. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is a good thing, but if salt has become insipid, how can you season it again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.’
JUDGEMENT ON THE RICH AND POWERFUL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JAMES 5:1-6; PS 49:14-20; MK 9:41-50]
St James’ judgment on the rich might appear as if it is a sin to be rich. This is far from the truth. Riches are blessings from God, like all other gifts. It is not wrong to be rich and neither is being poor a blessing. Whether we are rich or poor, we can be blessed as well. This part of his letter is an exhortation equally for those who are rich and for those who are poor. Indeed, the crux of today’s lesson in the first reading is that we should not be materialistic, inward-looking and think that happiness and fulfilment in life is to be measured by our wealth. If we take our situation positively, we can find happiness and peace.
How can this be possible? On the part of the poor, they should not envy the rich or become resentful of their poverty. This was particularly so for the Christians in St James’ community who were generally poor. Many came from the lower strata of society and some were slaves of the rich and powerful. Envy could lead to greed and theft. Because of envy, we will find excuses to justify any action to secure more wealth. We will rationalize evil to satisfy our selfish interests. When that happens, we will end up as corrupt as those who are rich and powerful. On the part of the rich, there are snares as well because riches and hoarding of wealth can also destroy us as we lose our focus and perspective in life towards God and others.
Hence, we must recognize that our wealth comes from God. Clearly, in the book of Leviticus, the land and people all belong to God. (cf Lev 25) We are all tenants of the land, not owners. We hold our property and wealth on trust and hence we must make use of them and be good stewards in obedience to His divine will. So those who are rich must ensure that their wealth is truly given by God and not acquired through dishonest means. St James was condemning those who became rich through cheating and exploitation. He said, “Labourers mowed your fields, and you cheated them – listen to the wages that you kept back, calling out; realise that the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” He added, “It was you who condemned the innocent and killed them; they offered you no resistance.” They did this by refusing to listen to the voice of justice calling them to pay just wages to the workers whose families depended on their day’s living. Worst of all, sometimes the rich used their powerful influence to cheat the poor through bribery of judges and political leaders to side with them.
This has clear implications for us today when wealth is amassed through manipulation of the money and stock market and land. Today, the rich use wealth to create more wealth. Whilst it is not wrong, yet the monopoly of businesses would lead to the temptation to charge their consumers excessively as they are at their mercy. The danger for investors is that because they are not directly connected to the workers, very often, to generate profits for their businesses, workers are often underpaid and not given decent wages for the work they give to the organization. Instead, those in top management are grossly overpaid compared to the workers who too put in a hard day’s work. There must be a fairer distribution of pay-outs because companies have a grave responsibility to share their profits with their workers. Heavier is the judgment when the rich deprive the poor of their rightful salary and needs, especially when they are fellow-Christians. By so doing they are contradicting their own faith in the Lord.
Secondly, we must be aware of the pitfalls that riches could lead. Many of us think that wealth provides us security and happiness. On the contrary, St James wrote, “Your wealth is all rotting, your clothes are all eaten up by moths. All your gold and silver are corroding away, and the same corrosion will be your own sentence, and eat into your body. It was a burning fire that you stored up as your treasure for the last days.” Wealth cannot last. The rich will eventually lose their wealth. It is said that wealth stays in a family for three generations. This is why the rich who hoard their wealth would have their fine clothes eaten up by moths and their gold and silver corroded. For all their selfish hoarding and greed, wealth will eventually perish. Indeed, either because of failure in business, or death, we cannot keep our wealth with us. When we realize that our wealth is taken away from us, some would fall into despair.
But being mistaken about the security that wealth could offer is not only the first misery. The rich are destroyed by their riches. Not only are our possessions rotting or rusting away, so too our lives, unless we manage our wealth well. The poor will testify against the rich for not sharing their wealth with them. The rich who oppressed the poor will be punished by God eventually. The rich will be punished for their sins of self-indulgence as they become attached to a wanton life. Self-indulgence leads to indifference to those who are suffering. It leads to a destruction of one’s moral, physical and spiritual health. It is such a sin in modern life today when so much food is wasted by the rich whereas the poor cannot even afford a proper meal a day. Living luxuriously often leads to moral laxity as well. This, too, is a constant temptation in modern life as well. When we invest our money only primarily for pleasure, we do a great injustice to how God wants us to use our money to build up others and to do good for society.
Alas, not many so-called Christians believe in Jesus’ warning about the danger of possessions. “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Lk 18:24f) St Paul, writing to Timothy said, “We brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” (1 Tim 6:6-10) We all want to have more and more. It is such a scandal, which the world turns a blind eye to, that 10% of the world’s population holds 90% of the wealth of the world, whilst the other 90% owns only 10% of the wealth of the planet. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
This is why St James urged them to “start crying, weep for the miseries that are coming to you.” To cry and wail is the language of humility and regret for one’s sins in the face of God’s judgment. They are called to repentance. The psalmist says, “This is the lot of those who trust in themselves, who have others at their beck and call. Like sheep they are driven to the grave, where death shall be their shepherd and the just shall become their rulers. With the morning their outward show vanishes and the grave becomes their home. But God will ransom me from death and take my soul to himself.” More importantly, they must care for their souls, which is eternal, unlike wealth which is passing. They must reorder their priorities and see how they manage the wealth that God has given to them.
The gospel sums up what is required of us Christians. It reminds us to reach out to the poor. As the Lord said, “If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.” We must never forget that when we care for the poor and the suffering, we are caring for Christ. All the poor in a special way belong to Christ because He is identified with them. The gospel also warns us of the danger of being an obstacle to those that have been placed under our care. Those of us who are rich and powerful and influential must never forget that their positions in life and their resources have been given by God so that they can help the rest of society that is dependent on them. But to abuse their authority, position and privileges by taking advantage of the poor, the vulnerable, God’s judgement would be severe. Indeed, the litmus test of how we use our wealth and resources is how we use them to glorify God and for the service of His people. This is why the Lord exhorts us to cut off any part of the body that does not glorify God and used to do good. Finally, for us to live in such a manner, the Lord warns us, “Salt is a good thing, but if salt has become insipid, how can you season it again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.” We need to be salted in the Lord and hear the Word of God anew so that with faith in the Lord and a renewed listening to the gospel, we can truly live out the life of justice, charity and compassion.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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