Wednesday, XXIII Week of Ordinary Time
(Luke 6)
In the gospel today Jesus almost sounds like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton giving a harangue about economic justice. We might wish we could hold the mute button on him for awhile. But he is the Lord and definitely has something to say for us that will transcend the speech of other prophets which Jackson and Sharpton may legitimately be.
Jesus is addressing on one hand those who experience serious deprivations. He is talking to the poor who barely get by with what they have and to the mourning who experience loss continually. But he does not mean all the poor, all the hungry, all the weeping, and all the insulted. No, he is talking to his disciples or future disciples who suffer hardships to follow Jesus. Is there a way to insulate oneself from deprivation and still follow Jesus? Although there will be wealthy followers, even they will know sacrifice in order to follow Jesus.
Of course, Jesus does not limit his address to the have-nots but pronounces some choice words to the haves as well. Their future is bleak, he tells them, if they do not use what they have for the good of the needy. Jesus in this gospel does not condemn the rich, the sated, the joyful, and the well spoken of for being as they are but only when they selfishly horde what they have. Jesus relates the same lesson that we find in the legend of King Midas. The god Dionysius gave Midas the choice of anything he wanted. The king foolishly asked that whatever he touched be turned into gold. When the wish was granted, King Midas came to lament it because he found that he could not enjoy anything. All the food, comforts, even friends turned into the affectionless, inedible, durable metal.
