Taunting and teaching about wealth

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today brings together texts which will lead us to consider three related but unique concerns taunting, revenge and riches. Friar Jude Winkler explains that the portion of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel which we read today is a “taunt song” where the author uses the deeply held belief of the Israelites that the word has power to create action ( in the manner of the Word bringing about creation) to influence circumstances in the present. The story of the Prince of Tyre who is defeated by his false assumption of his omnipotence stands in for the Emperor of Babylon who has taken Ezekiel and the people of Jerusalem into captivity. Even though Ezekiel considers the exile to Babylon to be an action wherein the Babylonians have acted as instruments of God to punish Jerusalem for turning away from their faith, he considers that the Babylonians have become like gods in their own minds and this will bring their eventual downfall.  Michael Kavan of Creighton University sees a personal message in the text from Ezekiel which is a caution against becoming overly exalted in our own mind about what we are able to accomplish. The fall which too often follows the pride becomes an opportunity to rediscover our intimacy with God which supports our failure and too often is lost in our success. Conservative Christians find some of the basic tenants of the nature of Divine revenge in the canticle from Deuteronomy today. The message for all believers is that revenge and judgement belong with God. Jesus addresses the question of wealth with what Friar Jude describes as Jewish exaggeration. The description of the difficulty for the wealthy, those who put material things at a high priority in their lives, to be at peace in the Kingdom of Heaven becomes ironically a prescription in the minds of some of the Gospel of Wealth wherein our giving away of material things will be rewarded one hundredfold by material things. Friar Jude suggests that we might resolve this through remembering the life of St Francis who possessed nothing and as a consequence was able to celebrate everything as gift from God.