Monday, June 30, 2014


Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

(Amos 2:6-10.13-16; Matthew 8:18-22)

Pope Francis has raised eyebrows around the world by speaking against the idolatry of money.  He finds the contemporary situation of a privileged few growing richer “exponentially” while leaving ever farther behind the poor as intolerable.  He sounds much like the prophet Amos in the first reading today.

Amos is preaching in the wealthy Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Although money abounds, so do the poor and injustice.  God gave the people the law to promote both prosperity and community.  But some ignore it in the pursuit of riches.  Their greed results in squalor amidst luxury and widespread scandal.

We must ask ourselves about our disposition toward wealth.  Is becoming rich our ambition?  Following Jesus, we will be moving in another direction.  The one “with nowhere to rest his head” will show us that the joy of his company outpaces the possession of gold.