Law and Justice (30th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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The Law of Moses contains several laws that are designed to protect those who are most disadvantaged in society. Such laws include leaving the edges of one's fields to be gleaned by the poor (Leviticus 23:22), or instituting a Jubilee Year so that land can revert back to their original owners (Leviticus 25:8-13). Here in Exodus, we see more of such laws, which are designed to protect the vulnerable in Israel.

In particular, we see three such vulnerable classes mentioned: Foreigners (sojourners), widows, and orphans. These are the most common types of vulnerable people in the Ancient world, and are often mentioned as stand-in for anyone who is in a disadvantaged state. The people of Israel are reminded that they, too, were once a disadvantaged class, having been an enslaved foreign community in Egypt. They of all people should know what it is like to be exploited and abused, and must take care that they do not copy what the Egyptians had done to them.

The first part of the passage (verses 21-24) makes a general rule against oppressing these people. The second part (verses 25-27) gives more specific examples of what such oppression may look like, and revolve around lending and interest. The Torah here condemns usury, as it causes the borrower to be enslaved with debt. It also condemns the taking away of the necessities of life as collateral in a loan. Note that the practice of lending is not condemned outright, but is only prohibited against those who do not have the means to pay back the loans. Thus, a healthy respect for economic activity is balanced with protections for the poor.

From this, we learn about God's concern for justice, and should strive to act accordingly in our personal lives. While it isn't wrong for us to create wealth, we should make sure that others have the same opportunities as us. In this way, society would be more justly ordered, and we would receive God's blessing.

J. Luis Dizon