Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Link to Mass Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/091910.shtml

Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor! Praise Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all!

These are not separate ideas, though we tend to think so. We come to church and learn about salvation, that Christ died for sinners so all might be saved. But whom do we see when we look around in church? Where are the poor who stand equal with us in salvation? It is shameful that so often our churches are divided not by geography, but by economics.

Time after time Jesus exhorts his disciples to take care of the poor. Feed my sheep. What you have not done for the least of my brothers, you have not done for me. Go, sell all you have and give it to the poor. As Christians, we have a special obligation to minister to the poor as the vanguard of our faith. Without works our faith is dead.

The Gospel seems strange because Jesus lifts up the dishonest steward. But the point is that the steward knew his wealth and status would not last, so he acted prudently with the wealth he possessed at the time, forgiving his master’s debts ensuring he would be welcomed by his master’s debtors. We are in the same position. We know that we will die and lose the wealth and status we enjoy on earth. But if we were prudent like the steward, we would use our wealth to take care of the poor, and earn favor with God so that we are welcomed into eternal life.

Not to say that God works that way, but it would be the prudent thing to do. True wealth is one of the themes of Luke. There is no honesty or glory in earthly splendor, for how can there be glory when fellow Christians are oppressed and marginalized? Wealth creates injustice, and we worship a God who “raises up the lowly from the dust;/ from the dunghill he lifts up the poor/ to seat them with princes,/ with the princes of his own people.” This isn’t prophecy for the end times, but a mission we are called to partner with God in now.

Those in power have a special responsibility to those who are not. The first reading condemns the vendors who use their power to cheat the poor, and the second reading asks us to pray for those in authority that they may keep the peace. This thing, to keep the vulnerable from exploitation and violence, is our responsibility.

The early Christians were not capitalists, nor even socialists. They lived in a small community and shared everything between themselves. They were a community. The disciples knew and taught that to follow Christ meant placing ourselves on an equal footing with all other believers, even seeking to be the servant of everyone else. The concept of nations, democracy, politics, democrats, kings, patriotism, laws…these are not sacred to God.

In God, there is one nation set apart, the priesthood of all believers. There is only one King, one set of laws which He did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.

We are called to be in this world and not of it, and our allegiance is given to none but God first and the people He has given to us to care for. Our politics are those of the poor, and we should defend neither corporation, nor country, nor authority before we defend the exploited, the downtrodden, and the vulnerable.