Thursday in the 7th Week of Ordinary Time (II)
Support or Skandalon?

Readings: James 5:1-6; Psalms 49:14-15ab, 15cd-16, 17-18, 19-20; Mark 9:41-50
Picture: CC Melting Mama

Have you ever seen one child tripping another? Perhaps a friend is walking round a corner and the kid simply sticks out a foot causing the other one to stumble. Of course, I myself have conveniently forgotten whether I’ve ever done something like that before. There’s probably more mischief than any real malice in the action. And perhaps even the adults who may be standing around might not think too much of it. But how different things would be if the victim were a child with a handicap of some sort, perhaps someone walking with the aid of crutches. If that were the case, then the culprit probably deserves something more than an amused smile.

This image of someone being tripped up is what is brought to mind by our readings today. The gospel speaks of the terrible fate that awaits the one who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith. The Greek word for obstacle (skandalon) denotes something that causes another to stumble. The immediate context refers to how Christians who jostle with one another for power will tend to scandalize others, causing them to stumble in the faith. But the pairing of the gospel with the first reading for today also leads us to consider yet another possible perspective. The warning given, in the gospel, to the power-hungry, is directed, in the first reading, to those who are rich.

Apart from the undeniable fact that riches do not last, a more serious difficulty is their tendency, like power, to trip others up, especially the poor and the vulnerable. Labourers mowed your fields and you cheated them. That sounds pretty serious. But lest we congratulate ourselves too quickly for being innocent of such blatant wrongdoing, it’s important to acknowledge that one can trip up the poor indirectly as well as directly, by inaction as much as action. We may consider for example, the low wages and poor working conditions of many migrant workers. The issue of global poverty also comes easily to mind. Although, in the year 2000, 189 countries of the UN signed an agreement to work towards eradicating abject poverty by 2015, to date, none of the signatories are anywhere near fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals that that agreement included. On earth you have had a life of comfort and luxury; in the time of slaughter you went on eating to your heart’s content… The nett result is that people who could be helped, continue to suffer.

Not only do riches cause the poor to stumble, but they also tend to trip up those who own them. Riches tend to possess their owners, who then lose touch with their deepest identity, their own high calling as sons and daughters of God. The gospel speaks of this eventuality in terms of salt. Not only is salt meant to enhance the taste of food, it also serves to preserve it. Similarly, Christians are called to help preserve others, to give aid to those in need. In this we are called to be like our God, who continually reaches out his hand to raise up those who are bowed down. But by sticking out their feet to make others stumble instead of reaching out a hand to raise them up, the rich lose their sense of self. The salt loses its taste and is fit only to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. The only remedy at this point is to heed the harsh-sounding words of the gospel: if your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.

What are we offering the needy in our midst today? A hand in support, or a foot to make them stumble?