WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.480 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.980 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.780 --> 00:00:10.800 Well, welcome to all of you on this beautiful, 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:15.160 sunny California morning. I hope you got here 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:18.260 without having gotten too wet, or having car 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.339 trouble, or whatever it might be. But God has 00:00:21.339 --> 00:00:24.519 brought us together in the joy of this community 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:30.769 Eucharistic celebration. Today we have that parable 00:00:30.769 --> 00:00:34.850 we hear it every year, the rich man and Lazarus. 00:00:35.549 --> 00:00:38.049 Lazarus, the poor man and the rich man who didn't 00:00:38.049 --> 00:00:44.530 care about him. It occasionally happens that, 00:00:44.630 --> 00:00:47.270 and I invite you to do this, if you read over 00:00:47.270 --> 00:00:50.909 the gospel before you come to church or the night 00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:55.390 before, take a look at the verses right before. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.340 or right after the gospel selection. Because 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:02.960 sometimes they have an interesting clue on how 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.739 we should understand this gospel passage. And 00:01:06.739 --> 00:01:10.780 that's the case today. Because two verses before 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:14.980 this gospel begins in verse 16, we have verse 00:01:14.980 --> 00:01:20.099 14, which tells us, Jesus addressed the Pharisees 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:26.730 who were fond of money. Okay, so this is addressed 00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:31.750 to Pharisees. And I think Pharisees in the broadest 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:37.769 possible term to those who are complacent, proud 00:01:37.769 --> 00:01:42.689 of themselves, look down upon others who are 00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:48.269 callous and greedy. Faults that were typical 00:01:48.269 --> 00:01:53.689 of... the collective word Pharisee, but all those 00:01:53.689 --> 00:01:58.090 faults we share in one degree or another at one 00:01:58.090 --> 00:02:04.390 time or another. So with this in mind, this gospel 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:10.729 is also very characteristic of St. Luke's style 00:02:10.729 --> 00:02:15.689 and also his selection of the miracles and the 00:02:15.689 --> 00:02:21.229 stories that he relates to us. Because St. Luke 00:02:21.229 --> 00:02:26.750 is particularly attentive to how Jesus treats 00:02:26.750 --> 00:02:31.229 the poor people. The collective term for poor 00:02:31.229 --> 00:02:37.389 people in Hebrew is the anawim. And the anawim 00:02:37.389 --> 00:02:48.289 are poor, underprivileged, sick, the little people. 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:55.020 The nobodies, so to speak. The nobodies in society. 00:02:55.620 --> 00:02:58.479 These are the ones Jesus is concerned about. 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:03.659 The anawim, the poor, and then also women. Notice 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:10.460 he spoke recently about the story of the widow 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:13.819 of Nayan and her only son that she was going 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:20.590 to be out to bury her. Publican and the Pharisee 00:03:20.590 --> 00:03:24.389 is another example of that. The publican, maybe 00:03:24.389 --> 00:03:28.870 he wasn't poor in wealth, but he was poor in 00:03:28.870 --> 00:03:35.370 spirit. The Pharisee looked down on him. Who 00:03:35.370 --> 00:03:43.550 else? The widow, the woman who was bent over 00:03:43.550 --> 00:03:47.189 and had scoliosis. The woman who had the flow 00:03:47.189 --> 00:03:51.120 of blood and just went to touch the hem of his 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.379 garment. So these are illustrations about how 00:03:55.379 --> 00:04:00.620 St. Luke is attentive to Jesus' concern for the 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:07.360 poor. Not necessarily poor in wealth or in spirit. 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:11.340 Sometimes those who are poor in wealth are rich 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:16.899 in spirit. But I think this is very well illustrated 00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:22.259 to us. In one of the Antiphon Psalms that we 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:25.759 sing each and every Sunday. Let's take a look 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:37.060 at that. Put not, let's praise the Lord, oh my 00:04:37.060 --> 00:04:42.319 soul. Put not your trust in princes. Now that 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:47.870 does not mean royalty necessarily. but it means 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:56.529 big shots, wealthy people. Politicians, put not 00:04:56.529 --> 00:04:59.350 your trust in these kind of big shots, in other 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:04.189 words, in sons of men in whom there is no salvation. 00:05:08.810 --> 00:05:15.730 Then happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob. 00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:22.680 whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:26.139 and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:31.360 keeps faith forever. The Lord sets the prisoners 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:37.800 free. Aha. Don't think he's necessarily talking 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:40.339 about murderers who should be in jail, but I 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:43.800 would say people that are falsely and improperly 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:47.160 imprisoned. Or people that are imprisoned by 00:05:47.160 --> 00:06:01.259 sin. Who sets the prisoners free. I lost my place. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:09.519 Yes. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:14.220 Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:18.300 loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the 00:06:18.300 --> 00:06:26.040 sojourners. That's an interesting word. Who does 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:30.579 the Lord watch over? The word itself means non 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:36.560 -residents or non -locals, visitors, tourists. 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:42.259 Sometimes some of the translations are proselytes. 00:06:42.810 --> 00:06:45.629 meaning people who have come, who are residents 00:06:45.629 --> 00:06:49.810 of Jerusalem, but come to worship in Jerusalem. 00:06:52.129 --> 00:06:54.670 I sort of thought of that interesting way of 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:56.750 putting it when I was thinking about this last 00:06:56.750 --> 00:07:00.550 night. Tourists. If you've ever gone on vacation, 00:07:00.850 --> 00:07:03.410 you know there's a local price and a tourist's 00:07:03.410 --> 00:07:08.430 price. People, it's human nature, and I doubt 00:07:08.430 --> 00:07:12.680 if it was that different 2 ,000 years ago, the 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:17.740 residents, businessmen, would try and fleece 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:21.319 or shake down people with higher prices that 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:26.379 were visiting in Jerusalem. One last word on 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:31.620 this word, sojourners. It's amusing to me because 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:35.259 it has an acquired difference now. The Orthodox 00:07:35.259 --> 00:07:39.439 Study Bible translates this as resident aliens. 00:07:41.389 --> 00:07:44.449 Now that's acquired a whole different connotation 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:47.850 in the last 10 or 20 years. But it means non 00:07:47.850 --> 00:07:51.370 -locals, in other words. So these are the ones 00:07:51.370 --> 00:08:00.790 that the Lord watches over. He upholds the widow 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:03.750 and the fatherless, the orphan and the widow. 00:08:05.389 --> 00:08:09.569 But the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:14.199 And oh, if it applies to someone, it applies 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:19.680 to the rich man in today's gospel. He did not 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:27.220 fare very well in the next world. Which brings 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:34.779 us then to an understanding of if the Lord is 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:39.059 interested in poor, unimportant people, so to 00:08:39.059 --> 00:08:42.590 speak, Like the poor man in today's story who 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:46.509 is really down and out. No question about it. 00:08:46.970 --> 00:08:51.610 The Lord is interested in these people. But then 00:08:51.610 --> 00:08:54.610 it brings us to the question, which probably 00:08:54.610 --> 00:08:58.429 pops to our mind immediately, I would say, when 00:08:58.429 --> 00:09:03.129 we read this. What about riches? What do we do 00:09:03.129 --> 00:09:06.870 with our money? In another context, it's go sell 00:09:06.870 --> 00:09:09.389 what you have, give to the poor. and you will 00:09:09.389 --> 00:09:13.029 have treasure in heaven and come follow me. And 00:09:13.029 --> 00:09:15.610 the rich young man went away sad because he had 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:20.850 so many possessions. All of these incidents prompted 00:09:20.850 --> 00:09:25.149 the emergence of a Christian theology of money, 00:09:25.250 --> 00:09:31.450 if I may use that term. Clement of Alexandria, 00:09:31.889 --> 00:09:35.690 who lived in the middle of the 3rd century, flourished 00:09:35.690 --> 00:09:38.980 about the year 250. He's the one that presented 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:46.659 us with the first Christian economics. First 00:09:46.659 --> 00:09:50.340 Christian economics. So here what Clement has 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:55.419 to say about wealth. Our Lord was not telling 00:09:55.419 --> 00:09:59.320 Christians to get rid of their wealth. He was 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:03.759 telling them to banish from their souls the primacy 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:09.789 of riches. Riches should not be rejected if they 00:10:09.789 --> 00:10:14.090 can be of use to our neighbors. They are goods 00:10:14.090 --> 00:10:20.590 because with them we can do good. Riches can 00:10:20.590 --> 00:10:26.090 be an instrument. In themselves, riches are blameless. 00:10:26.889 --> 00:10:33.409 Riches presents an opportunity to do good. or 00:10:33.409 --> 00:10:39.190 to do serious evil. Clement concludes in these 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:44.590 thoughts, it is up to our mind and judgment to 00:10:44.590 --> 00:10:49.230 manage what is given to us, really lent to us 00:10:49.230 --> 00:10:52.649 because we don't own it, but given to us for 00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:57.230 our use. Those who prosper, Clement tells us, 00:10:57.470 --> 00:11:01.129 those who prosper bear great responsibility. 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:06.220 to use their wealth and possessions for the kingdom 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:12.539 of God. This same attitude towards money, which 00:11:12.539 --> 00:11:17.220 Clement did not just come up with this idea out 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:20.259 of the blue, but if you go back in the early 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:23.620 centuries, Christianity drew primarily from the 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:28.379 poor and the you know, outcasts of society, slaves, 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:33.100 people like that. And then gradually, as decades 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:37.419 rolled on, wealthier people started to enter 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:41.759 the Christian church. And so this presented a 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:45.759 new situation. for the church. And this is what 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:50.019 Clement of Alexandria, what sparked his presentation 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:53.639 of sort of a theology of money, a Christian use 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:59.179 of wealth. So that's why Clement says that. Now, 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:02.899 the final thought, which is very much in line 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:08.080 with Clement's analysis, is what Augustine has 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:12.549 to say as a commentary. Augustine's writing maybe 00:12:12.549 --> 00:12:16.210 150 years later after Clement. Augustine says, 00:12:16.490 --> 00:12:20.789 Christ did not object to the riches of the rich 00:12:20.789 --> 00:12:27.830 man, but to his impiety, infidelity, pride, and 00:12:27.830 --> 00:12:34.070 cruelty. The rich should not fear wealth, but 00:12:34.070 --> 00:12:37.450 they should fear greed. They should not fear 00:12:37.450 --> 00:12:46.879 riches, but vices, They should not fear goods, 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:53.940 but greed. Let them possess wealth like Abraham 00:12:53.940 --> 00:12:56.820 did. And Abraham's mentioned in the gospel to 00:12:56.820 --> 00:13:00.419 be in the bosom of Abraham. And remember, Abraham's 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:04.019 known for his faith, but he was also a very wealthy 00:13:04.019 --> 00:13:11.899 man. Very wealthy man. possess wealth like Abraham 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:16.360 as a man of faith, and let them possess it with 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:21.200 faith. Let them have it and possess it, but not 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:25.679 be possessed by it. And that's a challenge for 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.740 all of us, not to be possessed by what we have. 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:31.799 Because regardless of how much income we have, 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:36.769 we can fret too much about all of that. and not 00:13:36.769 --> 00:13:40.289 be concerned about more important things in life. 00:13:40.870 --> 00:13:44.809 And I'd say as a footnote, this gospel also tells 00:13:44.809 --> 00:13:51.269 us to be concerned for the poor and the needy, 00:13:51.269 --> 00:13:55.690 to use some of our wealth, no matter how much 00:13:55.690 --> 00:13:59.149 money we make, but to use some of our wealth, 00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:03.600 some percentage, and give it... to appropriate 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:09.980 charities for those whom God has given less challenges 00:14:09.980 --> 00:14:15.720 than the challenges he has given us as relatively 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:21.279 wealthy people. To be wealthy in spirit is more 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:24.879 important, but those of us who are wealthy or 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:29.700 poor in money, let us be wealthy in our spirit. 00:14:29.940 --> 00:14:30.600 Amen.