It was about a year ago that I heard these words: "Once the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, everything else we own belongs to the poor" (Rerum Novarum, 22; paraphrase). They have walked with me each day since. I cannot bring myself to deny the truth in them; neither can I seem to bring my self to any sort of action in response to them.
In his 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII addresses the “Rights and Duties of Capitol and Labour”. Rerum Novarum is Latin for “Concerning New Things”; Leo is responding to the rise of the modern world with all the social and economic changes that followed in its wake. During the course of dealing with the tricky issues of workers rights, possession of private property, the role of the employer, etc. Leo reminds his readers (in no uncertain terms) of the position the Christian church has universally held with regards to the poor. In fact, the Old Testament Law and Prophets, the New Testament Gospels and Epistles, and the teachings of the Church are all in clear agreement on this one. We are each personally responsible for the care and welfare of the poor in our midst.
The 13th century theologian and Doctor of the western church, St. Thomas Aquinas, clarified the question of what the Christian is to do with his/her money: “Man should not consider his material possessions as his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need. Whence the Apostle with, ‘Command the rich of this world... to offer with no stint, to apportion largely.’”
The message could not be any more clear. I have read the Scriptures and I know what Jesus has to say on the topic. All of the Hebrew prophets are of one accord on this. I’ve heard it said that the commandments of Christ are not difficult because they are so complex, but they are difficult because they are so simple and we don't want to do them.
The picture of Jesus as judge isn’t one that readily comes to my mind. The image (metaphor) that is most common to my thinking tends to be that of the shepherd. But the Scriptures do tell us that the Son of Man (aka Jesus) will judge each according to his deeds. A day will come when we will have to account for our actions. Interestingly, the actions (or inaction) that the judge charges people with are those involving their treatment of the poor and the marginalized.
“for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me… Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” (Matthew 25)
When the Bible refers to ‘the rich’, I know of whom it speaks… it speaks of me. I to whom Jesus calls for repentance.. he calls to me.
"She's a rich girl and she's gone too far, 'cuz she know it don't matter anyway...she can rely on her old man's money, she can rely on her old man's money..."
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