Saturday, 7/19/14
Our readings today favor the little men and the poor. The
Gospel sees Jesus as the promised Messiah who would not cry out, would not make his
voice heard. He would not be like the politicians and owners of insurance
agencies whose faces are constantly beamed at us through hugely expensive TV
commercials.
The prophet Micah of the first reading was a poor man of the
eighth century before Christ. From his hills above the Dead Sea he gazed west
over family holdings that had been gathered into the vast fields of the
wealthy. He promised vengeance from the Lord on merchants who schemed at taking
over the fields of the poor.
Those merchants remind me of a man with whom I once shared a
cab in the Korean countryside. Having taken the day-long bus trip into see our
bishop about marriage dispensations, I was disappointed twenty miles short of
my parish when the bus diver announced he would go no farther that Saturday
evening.
Standing around, looking to hitch a ride on any army vehicle
going south, I was approached by a stranger who said, “Father, would you pay
half the cost of a cab to our town?”
Having half the fare, I got into the cab with the man, and I
asked him how he knew me. He said he was a grain merchant in my town, and for
years he had watched me passing by his place. He went on to explain that none of his fellow merchants
ever went to church for the reason that they grew wealthy by cheating
customers.
He didn’t use the word “cheating” since he was talking in
Korean. He did admit to boosting the price on grain when it grew scarce. For
him and his merchant class, amassing
more wealth than their competitors was their their favorite sport.
Today as well we have wealthy dealers like those people. They
play a game in which they keep score with millions. Micah warns them the Lord
is going to blow his whistle on their game.
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