Thursday, February 24, 2022

 

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

(James 5:1-6; Mark 9:41-50)

James’ diatribe against the rich may sound like over-kill.  The rich are not necessarily bad.  Everyone knows rich people who try to help their neighbors.  Neither will all the rich end in misery.  Even corrupt rich people can change their lives.  But there seems to be a kind of rich person that deserves the vitriol of James’ denunciation.  They exploit the young in the sex trade.

Adolescents who enter the sex trade commonly  do so between fourteen and sixteen.  They may be forced or intimidated into going along with the seducer.  The victims of sex trafficking, both adolescent and adult, face dire consequences.  Venereal disease is, of course, a serious threat. Involvement in drugs and alcohol is common.  Victims also suffer serious mental problems.  Life expectancy is severely compromised along with possibility of achieving satisfaction in life.

In the gospel Jesus warns that those who cause a child to sin would be better off dying tragically.  Even if they live in a palace, they have lost access to the kingdom.  They deserve the opprobrium of James in today’s reading.

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