Create a clean heart in me, O God.
by Fr. David M. Knight
August 17, 2024
Saturday of the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Lectionary 418
Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32/Mt 19:13-15
In ministering to people, we are very aware of Jesus’ words: “Woe to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to ease them.” Our desire is always to let Jesus say in us and through us:
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you... for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
But sometimes Church law seems unrealistically hard. That is when we need to use the Church’s “theology of law” and verify the “doctrinal level” of particular moral teachings.
In Ezekiel 18:1-32 we have a classic example of how the Church’s understanding of what is right and wrong was changed by the “consensus of the laity.” The sin of “usury” that Ezekiel condemns twice here did not consist in charging too much interest on money. Pope Benedict XIV wrote in 1745 that the “very nature” of a loan “demands that one return to another only as much as he has received.” The pope added; “Whenever sermons are preached or instructions on sacred doctrine given, the above opinion must be adhered to strictly. [If anyone] dares to write or preach the contrary... he should be subjected to the penalties imposed by the sacred canons on those who violate Apostolic mandates.” As the laity ignored the directive and bishops chose not to enforce it, it was eventually reversed by “contrary custom” as explicitly recognized in Canon Law 26).
The Church taught you could not charge “rent” for using money as you could for using a mule, because money didn’t “work” for you. The bankers saw that the nature of money had changed from a simple “medium of exchange” to capital. In modern society money “works” for those who invest it. So you can charge interest for letting your money work for someone else. The principles remained the same, but the laity’s better understanding of the words brought change to the Church’s moral teaching.
While this was being worked out, however, popes, saints and scholars told the bankers they were guilty of mortal sin. Lateran III (1179) decreed that those who accepted interest on loans could not receive the sacraments or Christian burial. Ministry requires us to do our homework, keep an open mind, and not be dogmatic about what is non-infallible.
Matthew 19:13-15: The “Kingdom” belongs to children because they are open. Everything is new to them.
Initiative: Be suspicious of “heavy burdens.” Look to see who imposes them.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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