Reflection on the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today Deuteronomy, Psalm 15, James and Jesus according to Luke tell us to act from our hearts. Not to murder or lie or cheat  but to do good. 

I think those of us gathered here today in this Church are not the sinners the author of Deuteronomy, the psalmist and James and Jesus had in mind. This is tricky. We’re not murderers or embezzlers – but we still benefit from slavery that happened 150 years ago. We benefit from being white, most of us. We benefit from our education, from pooling our salaries and investing in the stock market – and our benefit is other people’s loss.  What do we owe to Black survivors of slavery? What do we owe to the factory workers in Bangladesh who make our pretty blouses?

On the other hand, we’ve given our lives to good works, we’ve spent ourselves. Isn’t there a limit to reparation? Can’t we take a breath?

What it comes down to is Jesus’ commandments, the ones that Scripture does not repeat today:  Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and soul and mind. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

That’s what we’re called to. All those laws in Deuteronomy, the laws of the scribes and Pharisees, Luke’s list of murder and theft and adultery, they go without saying. We are called to love God and to love each other as ourselves. This is the promised land. 

Tomorrow is Labor Day. Unions, interestingly, are constructed on some of the same principles as religious life. Let’s not act as individuals; let’s act as a community. Let’s pool our bargaining power. Those of us with the most skills and the most seniority will stand with the last hired and the least educated. Sure, our pay grades will be different, but we will all see what we have to do in order to get a raise. There won’t be favors for secret benefits.

Back when we were campaigning on behalf of farmworkers, leafleting in parking lots, somebody would always say the unions are as bad as the corporations. No, I’d say. The unions make plenty of mistakes but their motive isn’t profit. Consider that the unions are more like the churches. Sure they can sin. They can be corrupt. But they don’t amass power the way corporations do. 

The unions are built on that commandment: Love one another. 

My conclusion: We are old, and we’ve worked hard, and we’ve done good, and we are tired – but we are all still called to love God and love one another. Happy Labor Day.