27 January 2018
Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
The prophet Nathan told King David a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers, but the poor man had nothing at all, except one little ewe lamb that he had bought (cf. 2 Sam 12). The prophet’s story resonated with the great king, because the king himself had once been a humble shepherd, the youngest son in a large family. As the prophet’s story goes, the rich man, in his greed, seizes the poor man’s lamb and makes a meal out of it. The purpose of the story is to get the king to realize that he is the man, in other words, that he, the King, has acted like the rich man, has been greedy and has taken something important from a poor man.
Are you like King David? Has the Lord blessed you richly? Perhaps, instead of livestock, God has blessed you with rich knowledge of a certain topic, like childcare or education or the arts. Must you always score the most points when that topic comes up in conversation? Must you always establish your dominance? Even if what your neighbor has said is true, must you have the last word? “You are the man” (2 Sam 12:7).
We live in an information age. Wealth and poverty look different now than they did 3,000 years ago, in King David’s time. Those of us who are rich must learn to use our riches with a spirit of generosity and, above all, charity, and for the times when we have failed, like David, we must repent.