Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021612.cfm

Did not God choose those who are poor in the world
to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom
that he promised to those who love him?
But you dishonored the poor.
Are not the rich oppressing you?
And do they themselves not haul you off to court?

Recently some American politicians have begun accusing one another of arousing “class warfare.” The accusation comes easily, I suppose, because class is always standing on the sidelines in a democracy, waiting its chance to come on the political field.

Human beings, like wolves and chickens, may be instinctively class conscious. We seem to fall naturally into familiar patterns of superiority and inferiority. Some are born leaders; others are good followers. Whenever we must engage in a complex project that involves planning and people we look to leadership to see the big picture, work out the details and coordinate our efforts. It’s a rare project of any worth that one individual can create, undertake and finish entirely alone. Even if it’s magnificent we’ll carp about our lack of input in the project.

So we naturally develop patterns of superiority and inferiority, but we also demand respect for the least among us. Superiors should be servants of the rest.

Our Christian tradition especially honors that sense of justice and fair play. If the greatest among us should be honored for their foresight and courage when we have accomplished a mighty deed, the least among us demands our respect because she too did her part.  

Saint James challenges his disciples, “Are not the rich oppressing you?” Ironically – and this often comes as a staggering realization – the powerful often feel like victims. We’re hearing that push-back now when the Occupy movement points out the inequities of our system. When they ask, “Should one percent of our people control more than half the wealth?” they meet complaints about hurt feelings, “Class warfare!” and the woeful cry, “I work hard for my money!” – as if hard work makes one wealthy. 

Saint James had it right: class is real; the rich oppress the poor; and they strip the poor of what little they have with their misuse of the courts. 

And do they themselves not haul you off to court?

Denying that, you might as well command the waves to stop.  James’ prophetic statement remains as an eternal challenge to our manners and mores. Class divisions may be necessary in our political world – to get things done – but they have no place in our churches, and should have no place in our economic and social world.