Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp. 22-09-2019
The readings of today, especially the first reading and the gospel, deal with the issue of acquisition of wealth and its uses. Prophet Amos is known for his crusade for social justice. He stood against the oppression of the poor by the rich during his days. That oppression marks the relationship between persons, groups and even nations of unequal powers is evident even in our days. Take any century of your choice and analyze social relations in any given society in it or among the nations. You will see clear traces of the weak being subjected to the strong.
Prophet Amos’ struggle against the oppression of the poor in his days foreshadows the opening sermon of Jesus on the mountain called the Beatitudes (Mtt. 5:3-12). Jesus made a counter-cultural statement about the value system of his time: ‘blessed are the poor in Spirit, to them belongs the kingdom of God’. Further in his preaching, Jesus would regularly remind his audience of the uselessness of trusting in wealth. In the parable of the rich fool (Lk. 12: 13-21) Jesus ended by saying “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Money and what money can buy seems to top the criteria in determining human success in most societies. Your talents, career, ideas and whatever you have are often judged with regard to their financial values. That is why you see parents making all the efforts to ensure that their children get every opportunity to develop those talents that are financially rewarding in the hope that something clicks someday. Almost every child now is engaged in sport or music, even on Sundays; something that was not the case a few years ago.
Wealth, in itself, is not bad. There is fundamental difference between wealth/money and love of wealth/money. Genuinely acquired wealth is a gift from the Lord, and its proper use for the good of humanity is a sign of blessedness. The love of wealth/money is often evident in the manner of its acquisition and dispensation. With love of wealth/money, people can do anything to acquire wealth and to guard it for themselves alone. 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows”. Like the prophet Amos emphasized, any acquisition of wealth at the expenses of someone else is an atrocity before God. It is a dehumanization of the image of God in which men and women are created. Think of the various things people do to make money and how that affects the society: human trafficking, crimes, forced labor, illegal trades in weapons and raw materials that lead to wars and impoverishing of developing nations, etc. Ecclesiastes 5:10 “ If you love money, you will never be satisfied; if you long to be rich, you will never get all you want. It is useless”. When Amos berates the people for trampling upon the needy and bringing the poor of the land to an end, he is speaking of a reality that still faces us today.
The gospel presents another dimension on the question of wealth in the parable of the astute steward. He was wasteful of his master’s wealth. Yet all through the time the steward was in the service of his master, it never crossed his mind that the wealth he was handling could be taken away from him at any point, at least not so soon. He made no reservations or savings for such eventuality. When he was eventually asked to prepare a handover note, he went for a quick fix that will earn him a future. That was a last minute effort. There is something about last-minute fixtures. You risk losing more than you gain. In the case of the astute steward, he never minded because the goods he was giving away were actually not his own. All he cared for was to ensure that he didn’t end up on the streets.
The steward is both dishonest and smart. In the parable, the master praised the astuteness of the steward but not his dishonesty. There is something interesting that Jesus uses this parable to teach. Note that the steward could have decided to steal his master’s goods instead of making a deal with his debtors. That he could make such a deal indicates that his master does not know the quantity of goods that he has. He rather chose the second option because he wanted to secure what he considered lasting relationship rather than quick money. And Jesus added, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Lk. 16:9).
Everything we have could be considered as the wealth we possess: our talents, time and treasure. They are wonderful to behold and to enjoy, but they will certainly fail some day. However, the use we make of them could be an investment for the future or a wasteful use that has no reward. It is quite encouraging to note that a good number of us devote time and energy to visit the Detention Camp and are involved in various humanitarian works. Others support various community projects, including those of this community. Nevertheless, the gospel challenges each and everyone of us to re-examine our commitment to use worldly wealth to gain eternal friendship with God for ourselves.
In Matthew 25: 31-46 Jesus gives a picture of what the last judgement will look like. Those admitted to the Father’s joy are those to whom the Kind would say, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’ (Mt. 25: 35-36), and “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”(Mt. 25: 46). We don’t need to wait for a last minute quick fix like the steward in the parable. We can make hay while the sun shines.
While the world occupies itself with wealth creation and craze for riches, it is important to pay attention to the process of wealth acquisition and its use. God who made us in his image prize our being higher that any other material riches. We are beings in transit with an eternal destination. Lets not forget the words of our creator in Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” We are meant to rule over created things, to care for the earth and not to be dominated and controlled by created things. Ours is to use the wealth in our possession to serve God in creation and thus win for ourselves an eternal friendship with God.