Reflections on 25th Sunday – Homily (Year C)

– First Reading: Amos 8:4-7.
– Second Reading: 1Timothy 2:1-8.
– Gospel: Luke 16:1-13.

THEME: Stewardship

❖ The Readings of today remind us that we should remain focused and faithful as God’s stewards. And also make good use of our talents.

❖ In our First Reading, we have the prophecy of Amos against the rich who made their living by exploiting the poor.

❖ Amos condemns practices that trample the needy and ruin the poor.

❖ The selfishness of the wealthy aristocrats gave rise to the unjust distribution of the nation’s wealth and the exploitation of the poor. The rich get richer daily, and the majority are more impoverished.

❖ Amos also condemns those who yearn to cheat their neighbours at the end of the Sabbath day.

❖ On the sabbath day, they showed external piety and their pretensions of worship. But inwardly, they could not wait to see the day over to re-engage in their business of exploiting the people.

❖ In Deuteronomy 5:14, the sabbath day was not, first and foremost, about a time for worship. Instead, it was initially a law designed to give rest to all of society, not just to the property owner but also to your ox, your donkey, your livestock, and the resident alien in your towns.

❖ So, the prophetic ministry of Amos was born during this period of high social injustice and inequality. Crime was high that people even sold less quantity of goods at rates far beyond what was required.

❖ It is interesting how Amos concludes the message. He presented an image of a God who will never let go of any injustice meted upon the poor.

❖ Riches that are gotten by the poor’s ruin will destroy those who get them. God will remember their sins against them.

❖ Our Gospel Passage speaks about stewardship.

A steward is a person who is made responsible for handling the goods and property of his employer.

❖ The steward in the Gospel today was a bad steward because he was wasteful of his master’s property.

❖ He was going to be fired, so he took steps to guarantee his financial needs.

❖ He was not strong enough for a job of dignity and too ashamed to become a beggar.

❖ The dishonest servant was clever that he came up with a plan. We are told that he went to all those who owed his master and reduced the amount they owed.

❖ He did this so that they would be indebted to him and would be likely to help him when he even found himself out of work.

❖ And the master praised the dishonest servant for his astuteness. Jesus told this story not to encourage dishonesty but to draw attention to the foresight of the steward.

❖ Jesus is calling us to become as savvy to the ways of the kingdom as other people are wise to the ways of the world.

❖ Christians should be as prudent and resourceful in acquiring goodness as the servant was in earning money and making his future safe.

❖ Therefore, we should use material possessions for the good of others, so we should give much attention to things that concern our souls as we do to things that affect worldly matters.

❖ Wrong attributes about money can bring about spiritual ruin. Jesus tells us to use our money and other resources in ways that will help us in eternity

* Lessons

❖ 1) The Voice Of Amos Echoes Anew Today

❖ In our world, various forms of exploitation and social injustice exist. Those entrusted with public responsibilities have deprived millions of persons the sources of livelihood. The greediness and selfishness of our leaders is the problem in our country. God blessed us with many resources, but we can see they are meant for the few.

❖ We should ask ourselves whether we have contributed to such social imbalance.

❖ Those under us should not suffer, and they should be able to receive what is due to them. Don’t oppress people, and let what we have be for the benefit of those around us.

❖ 2) Invest In Others

❖ Possessions are not in themselves sin, but they are a great responsibility and those who use them to help their friends have gone far to discharge that responsibility.

❖ True wealth would consist not in what people kept but in what they give away.

❖ We must avoid gathering everything for ourselves and use the resources available to us for the good of others.

❖ 3) Be A True Steward

❖ The way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of fitness or unfitness to be entrusted with a more significant undertaking.

❖ For us to advance to a higher office or position, we must prove our honesty and ability in a minor role.

❖ 4) Be Entirely For God

❖ Serving God can never be a part-time or spare time job; we should serve him every moment and with every atom of our energy.

❖ Serving material things or the world and trying to serve God are incompatible. We have to decide whether we belong to him totally or not at all.

❖ There are a lot of distractions in our world today. For all its wonder and allure, the internet has opened up a new area of concern today. Young people are up all night surfing and texting; lives are being destroyed by the easy accessibility of pornography and internet gambling. The internet has many positive values as well, but these are problems which also have come as a result of it.

❖ We must evaluate ourselves and put God more centrally in our lives.

❖ In our Second Reading, Paul tells us to pray for everyone, especially the civil authorities.

❖ Paul wrote this letter when Christians went through a most brutal state-approved persecution under the wicked emperor Nero.

❖ For Paul, the reason to pray for the king and all who are in high positions is so that they could reverse their harmful and discriminatory laws against Christians, which would enable Christians to live their lives in peace, fulfilling their religious obligations without fear of arrest, molestation or death.

❖ They were not praying for the emperor so that he would continue in power with bad policies but that he would change his heart and policies against Christians.

❖ Today, there are many places/countries where the Christian faith is persecuted, and believers cannot practice their faith openly. We need to pray for a change of heart in the rulers of such countries.

❖ We need to pray for our country as we prepare for our forthcoming general elections. Let us pray for free and fair elections as we yearn for a better government. And also, pray for the spirit to elect credible persons in various positions.

* CONCLUSION

❖ As stewards, we will be called to give an account of our stewardship. Let us make use of the resources God has given to us.
We have the responsibility to build the kingdom of God.

❖ Happy Sunday
❖ Have A Nice Day.
❖ Blessings.