26th Sunday of Ordinary Time This week’s readings focus on extravagant wealth, poverty, and economic inequality. The passage from Amos continues the theme of last week’s reading calling out the sinfulness of the extremely wealthy. They are living in luxury (beds of ivory! eating veal! drinking wine from bowls, not cups!) while around them the needy are being ignored and their country is crumbling. Presumably the poor can rarely afford meat, much less veal, and are sleeping on the ground. Jesus paints a similar picture of the disparity between the rich man Lazarus and the poor beggar at his door ending with a harsh or consoling conclusion, depending on the status of the listener/reader.