FRIDAY, TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Doctor & Martyr
2 Kgs 25: 1-12 Ps 137: 1-6 Mt 8: 1-4
RICHES IN RAGS
The first reading today recounts the tragic events pertaining to the fall of Jerusalem to the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. The King of Judah, Zedekiah, was captured, his army was dispersed and the city itself including the house of the Lord was plundered, burnt, and destroyed. The elite of the city that including the noble class, the artisans and the affluent were taken into exile to become servants of the king of Babylon. However, a small remnant was left behind in Jerusalem that comprised the poorest of the poor, people without much learning or culture. They were to take care of the land as vinedressers and farmers.
The lesson that we derive from this narrative is that the Lord is the protector of the poor. The simplest and the most vulnerable people called as the ‘Anawim of Yahweh’ or the ‘poor of Yahweh’ are precious in His sight. In the sight of the world, they were useless, socially excluded and marginalized. What good did the treasures or wealth, the learning or the culture, the skill or the talents of the elite do to them? These in fact became a stumbling block that ultimately led to their deportation and downfall. But the poor had the Holy Land to themselves. To build it up again from the roots, to build up God’s own kingdom of justice and peace.
Many years after this event, along came Jesus and boldly declared, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). Jesus was referring to the Anawim of Yahweh or God’s remnant of those faithful who find their treasures in God. Anawim include all the people of God, whether rich or poor, healthy or ill who depend entirely on God. They do not put their trust in the things of this world, nor in any human being, but all their hope is grounded in God alone. God is their refuge and defender, their treasure. Let us also become poor in spirit, that we may be also embraced
Response: O let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not!
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