Three verses in the New Testament of the Bible have always caught my attention whether they are read during Mass, as part of a lesson from when I was in high school or when I happen to remember them for whatever reason. In Matthew 19:24, Christ says that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." In Matthew 25:35-36, He says "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me."
The first verse is something that seems to be biased against wealthy people and is often quoted (perhaps wrongly or incorrectly?) by those who tend to interpret these verses too literally. However, the second and third verses that I also cited have been used to explain the first one and probably applies to those who have so much and yet share too little of the blessings granted to them. What was the context of these verses and what was it like being rich at the time? Similarly, what was it like being poor during those times? Was it the same as being poor today? Was poverty as described the same poverty we experience at the present? It seems quite so obvious and yet if we delve deeper, it becomes much more than the financial or economic poverty we automatically associate with these verses. These days, we can extend our definition of poverty to psychology, to health, and even morality, respect and decency. One can be financially wealthy but morally poor. One can have so much property and yet be so corrupt and infamous. Blessed and few are those who have and are able to share their resources and themselves with the have-nots. But then do they give enough (until it hurts?) or do they just give excesses, surpluses that they could just as easily throw away rather than give away to the needy? A popular saying that is also based from the Bible (the story of Lazarus and the rich man) tells us that we cannot bring riches in the afterlife. And so the logic is that all the money and property in the world would not be enough for entry in heaven.
Matthew 19:24 seems in conflict with the "Parable of the Talents" found in Matthew 25 where a master rewarded two servants who used the talents granted to them to produce more while scolding and punishing one who did not use the talents given him. But then one perspective is that perhaps God gave us each different talents and at different amounts. Maybe wealthy people were given the talent to make wealth while less financially fortunate people were granted talents like being able to design things, build things, repair things or maybe a green thumb to grow things for food. I would like to think that these verses from the Bible presents us with a challenge for us to try to understand and extend our concept of sharing. If we are good in making money, could we be good at tilling the fields to grow rice and vegetables? If we are adept in the stock market or trading, could we also be good in fishing? Indeed there are always exceptions to the rule and success stories where the results seem to state that its possible to have multiple talents. But that is not an aberration but rather a sub-case of the same parable. These multiple talents can be harnessed to produce more but the challenge is also to share more with others.
But we should not forget that this is not a one way thing. Even for those who have less, there is also the challenge to give and not just to take. The problem we often have is something of a mendicancy mind-set. Some less fortunate people have come to believe that they should receive financial and other assistance from the government and those who are better off. The tragedy here is when they become selfish in the sense that they no longer want to use their own talents, to work and improve themselves. And there are so many of these people now who take advantage of other people's goodness and generosity that the former become abusive and the latter jaded of their efforts. These set to motion a vicious cycle that is leading us to becoming uncaring and indifferent and perhaps unbelieving or faithless.
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