Foot-washer

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092026.cfm  How would you feel if a rich and powerful person said these words to you? “My ways are above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.” Two weeks ago, an individual (named Stan Kroenke) bought the Los Angeles Angels, a Major League Baseball team, for $4 billion.  This is the man’s sixth pro-sport team.    In addition to these teams, he is the largest private landowner in North America, owning 2.7 million acres, and his net worth is $27.6 billion.  I can imagine him or others in his orbit saying: “My ways are above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.”  And he would be right; I have no idea what his world is like. I cannot justify buying a $100 jersey for my favorite sports team, much less conceive of buying the team itself.    In another recent development, some of the wealthiest Americans have been exploiting accounting loopholes that allow them to av...

St. Agnes Catholic Church September 21, 2025 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Short form of the Gospel) In the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof, the main character, a poor milkman named Tevye has a disagreement with his future son-in-law, Perchik.  Perchik, who is a Marxist, exclaims, “Money is the world’s curse!” To which Tevye replies, “Money a curse? Might I be afflicted and never recover."  Later in the musical, Tevye sings the song, “If I Were a Rich Man” in which he fantasizes about how different his life would be if he were wealthy.  Most of us have indulged in this same fantasy, playing the parlor game of “what would I do if won the lottery?”  Whether rich or poor, most people think their lives would be better with more money.  We do not live in a poor Ukrainian village of Jews in 1905, in constant danger of a pogrom, like the characters of Fiddler.  No, we live in the richest country in the world.  In fact, the United States is the richest c...