The headline above isn’t intended as a joke. Given yesterday’s readings, is it possible that the Church is failing in its responsibility to warn rich people–which, in the global calculus would mean most Americans–of the grave danger that their standard of living poses to their souls?
The story of Lazarus and the rich man, not to mention the Beatitudies and the whole camel through the eye of the needle thing suggest that Jesus, who urged one young man to give up everything he had to follow him, is as profoundly concerned–one might even say alarmed–about the dim prospect of salvation for the rich as any other issue he spoke about. What does this mean for those who are wealthy? What does it mean for the Church in wealthy nations? Which theologians have discussed this in a systematic way?