Amos, Luke, and the Call to Bridge Society’s Divides

Today’s readings from the eight-century prophet Amos and the Gospel of Luke have surprises in store for thoughtful hearers. Neither the upper-class people that Amos speaks about nor the rich man in the Lukan parable commit a specific sin. The rich banqueteers are eating and drinking and having a good time — nothing sinful in that. The rich man in Luke eats sumptuously every day, but eating well is not a sin. Yet both are condemned by God. Why?

In a word, they didn’t notice. That’s what wealth often does. We miss signals and end up ignorant of what is really going on. What did the banqueters and the rich man fail to see? The banqueters were too busy with their food and drink to notice “the collapse of Joseph,” another name for the troubled northern state that failed to be faithful to the Lord. The leaders were so caught up in their own pleasures they failed to exercise their responsibility for the welfare of others. The punishment recorded in Amos will fit their crime. Because they would not lead their people in peace, when war comes, they will lead their people into exile!

In Luke, the issue is not national but personal. The rich man did not notice a poor man in rags lying daily on his door-step. But this “unimportant” man is the only person in all the parables given a name. Just as the two rich man and Lazarus lived in totally separate worlds in their earthly lives, so will they live in totally separate worlds when they die. It was once possible for the rich man to close the gap between them, but the two worlds no longer can be bridged. The rich man could have looked at the man lying on his doorstep instead of stepping over him and pretending he didn’t exist. But the time for connecting has ended.

Today we often fail to notice islands in our society: between rich and poor people, between whites and people of color, between citizens and immigrants. Those gaps are bridgeable today. In the Bible, all human beings descend from a single parent. Further, the Bible never distinguishes human beings according to race. It mentions only two differences in peoples –languages and homelands.

About one difference, citizen and immigrant, the American Catholic bishops have spoken in a well-informed way, and our own Cardinal O’Malley of Boston has written, “The Church’s interest in the immigration question continues to be a combination of pastoral care and public advocacy. We seek to provide a welcome in our parishes, schools, and social agencies, and also to have a place in the debate about a fair and just public policy.” The word of God today in the biblical readings calls us to be bridge builders in a time when connecting is possible.