Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

LUXURY

The Readings given to us by the Church for our reflection on the 25^th Sunday are rich with socio-economic themes which carry religious significance. The prophecy of Amos in the first reading (Amos 8:4-7) will be our focus in this discussion. Before we look at the textual analysis and draw life lessons from it; let us take a look at the background to the book of Amos.

The prophet’s oracle must be set against the background of the rise of the Israelite state under the rule of Jeroboam ben Joash (786-746 B.C.E.). During the course of his reign, Jeroboam II was able to secure his nation against external threat and to extend its borders from Lebo Hamath in Aram or Syria to the north and the sea of the Arabah (i.e., Gulf of Aqabah) to the south (2 Kgs 14:25). Although Israel appears to have been secure during Amos’ lifetime, the prophet consistently points to the upcoming punishment and exile of Israel at the hands of enemy nations. Amos was a sheep herder and tender of sycamore trees who lived in the Judean town of Tekoa, situated south of Jerusalem along the edge of the Judean wilderness overlooking the descent of the Dead Sea. As Judah was subservient to Israel during this period, the Judean state would be expected to pay a certain amount of tribute to Israel each year to meet the expenses of the administration, defense, and expansion of the larger Israelite empire. Most of this burden would fall upon the population of Judah, from which the Judean monarchy received its own resources for support. In an agrarian economy, this means that the people of Judah would have to pay a share of their agricultural harvest and animal stock to both the Judean and the Israelite monarchies.

Amos’ prophecies addressed certain issues and chief among them were the prophet’s vision on economic hardship caused by natural catastrophe. He refers to a locust plague that destroyed the crops shortly after the king’s mowing (Amos 7:1-3) and a fire that consumed the land (Amos 7:4-6), apparently leaving little for the people to eat. What Amos addresses in our first reading for the 25^th Sunday points to the poverty of the people, who are sold for a pair of sandals, whose garments are taken in pledge, who are subject to fines for failing to pay off their debts, and who are continually cheated in the purchase of grain and other essentials (Amos 2:6-8; 8:4-6). He sees a very wealthy ruling class in Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, which lives on the backs of poor farmers such as himself (Amos 4:1; 6:1, 4-7) and does not relent in its demands for wealth even when the people face crop failure and potential starvation. Did Amos “demonize” luxury/money?

What is wrong with luxury? Amos describes the “beautiful people” of his time, those who had plenty of money and plenty of leisure time in which to enjoy it. He talks of the way that can lead to excess, but the brunt of his concern is not excess itself, but the way it makes serious thought definitely out of place. Luxury is a problem when it is gained at the expense of others’ misery (Amos 4:1-3; 5:11-12; 8:4-6) and when it deadens the mind and the senses to responsibility. Amos focuses on the latter in this chapter, with the former appearing once, in v.12. But for Amos it is the effect of luxury – whether excessive or not – on one’s mind, on one’s attitude toward life and the world, that is identified as the main problem. As long as I am comfortable, why disturb that comfort by worrying about my behaviour or about others who are not doing so well? After all, does not my comfort prove my behaviour is all right – and in fact better than others? The sage’s desire for a middle way is relevant here, for he recognized the danger of having too much:

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that I need,

Or I shall be full, and deny you,

And say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or I shall be poor, and steal,

And profane the name of my God. (Prov. 30:8-9)

If men of our world were to follow this counsel of the sage, maybe the world may have been a better place for us all to live, but to a large extent that is not the case. Slave trade formally ended centuries ago but it really ended on paper. Human beings are still been sold in our world today. For man to satisfy his desire for sex, some people are operating in the sex trade business in our world. Many young African, Asian, and South American girls are being tempted from their poor homes with the promise of a better life in the West, only for them to be sold into the multi-million dollar sex industry.

Alex Gray writing for the World Economic Forum makes this observation: “we might like to think that slavery is a thing of the past, but in fact in the 21^st century the opposite is true. There are over 40 million people across the world caught in the modern-day slave trade… Modern slavery affects vulnerable people fleeing war zones, some of whom are tricked into marriage with promises of a better life, only to have all their rights and freedom taken away. Almost three-quarters of those affected by modern slavery are women (71%). And 99% of the victims of sexual exploitation are women.”

Who are going to stop those who are making money from “Organ trade”? According Ewelina U. Ochad of the Forbes website: “The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10% of global transplant activity is constituted by the illegal organ trade. Some of the countries with reported illegal organ trade activities include China, India, Pakistan, Kosovo, and the Philippines…According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, the estimated revenue of the illegal organ trade worldwide is between $840 million and 1.7 billion…The 2018 Global Slavery Index indicated that the traffickers and brokers of illegal organ activities target vulnerable individuals, including migrants and refugees. They reported that in some part of India, people in desperate need of money would use their kidneys as collateral for money lenders. In other countries, like China, the illegal transplants allegedly come from prisoners of conscience.”

What the prophet Amos addressed has not ceased. Let us work hard to improve on the dignity of man especially the poor and in no way should human beings be exchange for wealth and luxury. From the domestic level to the world stage, we should make efforts to stop the exploitation of the poor and the less privileged.