Yes: For the upper class, THE RICH DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY, WHILE THE POOR HAVE TOO MUCH MONEY. That's what they believe! It can't be said often enough.
It's all a declaration of class warfare.
Today's Readings
Today's readings contradict all that. Look at my "translations" and summaries immediately below. Compare them with the originals here to see if I got them right.
Jeremiah 17:5-8: In the early 6th century BCE, the great prophet Jeremiah foretold the defeat of his people by the Babylonians (modern day Iraq) because of Judah's social injustices and moral decay. Of course, his message of doom brought him death threats and cancellation. In today's reading he says: We who pretend to be God's People are cursed because we've prioritized the wisdom of the world (flesh) over the insights of the heart. Our failure to recognize the rhythms of history makes us like a dried-up bush in a parched desert. Only our hearts' return to the Divine Mother-Father and to the Mosaic Covenant (that prioritizes the needs of the poor, widows, orphans, and immigrants) will restore our identity as a mighty tree planted near clear running water.
Psalm 1: 1-6: Yes, God's law commands care for the poor, the widows, the orphans and immigrants. These are God's "Chosen People" just as Israel once was when it too was poor and enslaved in Egypt. Then their hope was in the Great "I Am" rather than in the wisdom of Egyptian slavers with their wicked, sinful, and insolent oppression of Yahweh's chosen. Never forget that. Such mindfulness will insure prosperity for all. Be encouraged too by the fact that the rich and powerful oppressors will inevitably be blown away like chaff in the wind. Blessed be the hope of the poor!
1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20: Yeshua's return from the realm of the dead cannot be denied without destroying the faith and hope of the poor. He is the quintessential avatar of the poor and oppressed brought back to life from "death" that is no more than a temporary slumber. Alleluia!!
Luke 6: 17, 20-26: In the Gospel of Luke, Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount" is delivered "on a stretch level ground." Also, Matthew's "Blessed are the poor in spirit" becomes a more down-to-earth "Blessed are you who are poor." In both cases however, the penniless Yeshua promised ultimate political triumph, abundant food, joy, and heaven on earth to the poor, the hungry, the tearful, despised, excluded, insulted, and demonized. (He promises reparations!) Moreover, he cursed the overfed, apparently joyful rich and famous. In Yeshua's Great Reversal, the rich are destined to be hungry, disconsolate, in tears, and disgraced. (Take that Messrs. Pilate, Herod, and Revs. Anas and Caiphas! Take that Messrs. Musk and Trump and Rev. Huckabee!)
Conclusion
In an interview with NPR, Evangelical Christian leader Russell Moore recently said that several pastors had told him disturbing stories about their congregants being upset when the ministers read from the "Sermon on the Mount " where (as we've just seen in Luke's "Sermon on the Plain") Yeshua favors the poor over the rich.
"Multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount - [and] to have someone come up after to say, 'Where did you get those liberal talking points?'"
Moore added: "And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, 'I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ, the response would be, 'Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak'."
But here are Yeshua's words: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."
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