We are tempted to say that this kind of reflection is political and not religious; the Church’s job is to deal with worship, we say. But the Bible says something else. Amos is not a professional prophet – he doesn’t earn his living by uttering prophecies at shrines and sanctuaries. He is an outsider, since his real job is as a shepherd and agriculturalist: people do not expect him to speak in God’s name. The Holy Land is split in two after the reign of King Solomon, and Amos belongs to the southern section, to Jerusalem and its hinterland, which is called Judah. But God sends him to the northern kingdom of Israel, precisely to preach justice. He addresses the people of both kingdoms. His description of the rich is bitterly sarcastic: ivory beds, luscious meals, drinking, self-indulgent entertainment. “Watch out,” he says: exile and deportation are just around the corner. Why? Because you have lived unjustly, because you have been corrupt, because you have appropriated the land of those who are poor, and reduced them to slavery. The well-being of the country as a whole is forgotten, because you, the rich, are selfish beyond words. St. Luke reminds us that Jesus was equally concerned with social justice. The story of the rich man and Lazarus seems to be about two individuals. The rich man dresses in purple and feasts magnificently, while at the the gate is Lazarus, starving and covered with sores. Jesus underlines sadly the inability of those who are rich to change their ways: “They will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”
Respect for every human person, human solidarity that is stronger that the urge to feather one’s own nest, these are central to the Church’s teaching. The Church offers the world her teaching on the Eucharist, her explanation of the Bible, directives on sexual morality, the beauty of pilgrimage, the rosary, lovely music. Catholic social teaching is not an optional add-on to these. It is an integral part of the same message. We can thank God that so many Christians have taken this to heart.