In the Mosaic Law God commanded the people to care for the poor and specific duties were laid on the people to do so: the tithe and gleaning of crops were set aside for the poor; the sabbath and jubilee years were instituted to correct injustices and care for the poor; the commands to care for the poor and the foreigners because Israel had been poor and aliens once before.
But the people did not do so. They neglected and took advantage of the poor. Many died because the people had failed to heed these commands and be heedful of the duty to social justice. God sent the prophets to tell the people to repent and to be just toward others, but the prophets were ignored in every time and place, so the land was taken over by empires.
Jesus' words in today's Gospel ring true: they would not believe even if someone were to rise from the dead. Lazarus sits in our midst, outside our cathedrals and episcopal mansions and lavish chancery buildings. The poor are a secondary concern of the Christian community, though our official teaching says otherwise. Lent is the time of the prophets calling us back to our primary focus of religion and the sole criteria of our final judgment.
No comments:
Post a Comment