Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest
The prophet Nathan told David the king a story about a rich man and a poor man. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers, but the poor man had nothing at all, except one little ewe lamb that he had bought (cf. 2 Sam 12). The prophet’s story resonated with the king, because the king himself had once been a humble shepherd, the youngest son in a large family. As the prophet’s story goes on, the rich man, in his greed, seizes the poor man’s lamb and makes a meal out of it. The purpose of the story is to get the king to realize that he is the man, in other words, that he, the King, has acted like the rich man, has been greedy and has taken something important from a poor man.
We live in an information age. Wealth and poverty look different now than they did 3,000 years ago, in Old Testament times. Those of us who are rich in knowledge and experience must learn to use our riches with a spirit of generosity and, above all, charity, and for the times when we have failed, we must repent, just like David the King.