Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Fungi recycle
  trees in a Florida swamp   

Lectionary: 81

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back....

 In his encyclical, Laudato Si', Pope Francis has urged us to build a worldwide economy modeled after the amazing efficiency of the Earth; that is, where everything is recycled. Just as dead trees house bugs which feed birds, which feed larger predators, which feed the tiniest scavengers; while fallen trees are converted by fungi back to dirt which rises in new trees, so should our metals, ceramics, plastics, and fabrics find new opportunities as new forms of metal, ceramic, plastic, and fabric.

We should produce no material which cannot be reused. Nothing should be dumped into the forest, deep sea, open sky, or underground because waste always reappears and causes harm to living things. The Earth will not be taken for granted and the Earth never forgets abuse.

We often say, "If it can be imagined, it can be done!" So why should we not imagine and build an economy modeled upon the natural cycles of our Earth? In today's Gospel Jesus proposes a similar economy. Our first century prophet knew nothing of ecological cycles but he knew the inexhaustible, providential mercy of God. It is there in our faith, in our stories of Bible History, and in our daily practice of love and charity. It's familiar to anyone who believes in God.

Married couples attest to this. After many years of marriage they remember the financial crises, the injuries and sickness, the losses and disappointment, their quarrels, betrayals, and mutual forgiveness; and they know God has never abandoned them; and their love has survived, deepened, and prospered. They make their marriage work because they believe in God and each other just as God believes in them. Their stories testify to God’s superabundant, inexhaustible generosity.

That story – we call it Providence – is written into the DNA of Jews and Christians. Just as the Jews remember their wandering in the wilderness, their exile in Babylon,and their diaspora throughout the world, we remember the resurrection of our Crucified Jesus. We tell our children about the inexhaustible courage and generosity of the apostles and martyrs who still carry the Good News of God’s mercy throughout the world.

The United States also honors God’s providence with the Latin statement on every dollar bill, Annuit Coeptis, meaning “God has favored us.” and with its declaration in English, “In God we trust.” It’s also there in the Eye of Providence which appears on the back of the dollar bill. You can see that same symbol in our chapel here at Mount Saint Francis, above the altar of Saint Therese of Lisieux.

God provides and there will always be enough. But his blessings come with certain provisions: we must not waste or squander; we cannot horde; we must share equally with everyone according to their needs. So long as everyone takes what they need and no more, there will be plenty. Should some people amass more than they need they are thieves; and God’s Providence will collapse. When that day comes we will know the meaning of Justice, Judgment, Armageddon, and Apocalypse.

MSF Chapel

Clearly the world’s faith in progress and technology without reference to God is a dead end. A few people with enormous technological power have exploited the resources of earth, air, and water; and wasted the Earth’s resources, without regard for the needs of everyone. They arrogantly think there will always be more where that came from. They stupidly think a few people can be extremely wealthy and God doesn’t care; but the human capacity for mindless waste, which is fed by our sinful anxiety, is exhausting even the earth’s capacities. Using laws, walls, and the military to prevent the poor from getting what they need only guarantees the destruction of all human life and the death of our earth.

Jesus has taught us about a new economy with his teaching; and laid its foundation by his passion, death, and resurrection. Pope Francis has elaborated on that vision with his Laudato Si. We can imagine it, and we do see people living by the Lord command…

Give to everyone who asks of you,  

and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

We do not have to abort the unborn or kill the sick and elderly. We do not have to create weapons of mass destruction, or buy guns to kill our neighbors or stop aliens. We have only to trust that the Lord cannot be outdone in generosity. There is more where that came from so long as we share equally with everyone.