(Homily
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)
The readings of this Sunday revolve around Christian responsibilities in
relation to social justice and the good use of earthly riches. At the background of the liturgical texts
of this Sunday, we encounter an interrogation of where true riches or wealth
are found. To this, the first reading warns that true riches do not
coincide with inordinate ambition and avidity at the expense of the poor and
the needy. In the parlance of the Gospel passage, true riches are the riches of
the faith, and we are astute when we use the riches of this world to help those
in needy. This manner of understanding does not come by easily; rather we
obtain it by means of prayer as evidenced in the second reading. And at the
heart of the Gospel passage is the borderline between “the sons of this world”
and “the sons of light”, however this contraposition could be seen as a point
of convergence between the first reading and the Gospel passage, and by extension
to the second reading, for St. Paul calls the children of light to embark on
prayers that produce peace and destroys anger, quarrelling and class struggle. Prayer is indeed the medium and locus
through which true riches flow!
In the first reading (Am. 8:4-7)
we reflect on the passage from the prophecy of Amos. Amos is one of the
prophets regarded as a prophet of social justice. This fact is well
orchestrated in his prophecy, for he denounces the rich who cheat and exploit
the poor. Prophet Amos in this passage proposes the theme of the rapport
between the rich and the poor, the theme of social justice. Amos lived in
Israel around the 8th century B. C., when Israel was living in a
period of economic breakthrough and material prosperity. However, it was at the
advantage of the rich, they were falsifying the scales and increasing the
prizes of goods to their own pleasure, but at the detriment of the poor. As
such, he threatens them with divine judgment. Prophet Amos condemns those rich who use the vulnerability of the poor to
enrich themselves. The rich of the time of Prophet Amos enriched themselves
by cheating the poor, is this astuteness as seen in the Gospel? They may be
astute in the eyes of men, but before God they are losers, for they have lost
out in the eternal treasure. As a matter of fact, in the responsorial psalm we
see God’s vindication of the poor: “From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from
the ash heap he raises the poor” (Ps.113:7)
and this serves as a response to the prophecy of Amos.
Amos therefore stood with the poor. He was
not an economic expert rather he was simply a prophet who speaks in the name of
God and before this phenomenon of injustice, he announces without fear the
judgment of God on those who enrich themselves at the expense of the poor: “Yahweh
has sworn by the pride of Jacob, ‘Never will I forget anything they have done”’
(v.7). Just like Amos every Christian in the name of God, has to be on the
side of the poor and the weak especially in situations of injustice and
oppression. When Mahatma Ghandi was talking about the sins of the modern
world, he mentioned “wealth without work
and commerce without morality”. Indeed, the happenings of the time of Amos
are not far-fetched from the daily experiences of our present time torn apart
by the presages of greed, avarice, inordinate desire for wealth and unfounded
ambition. No doubt, the preaching of Amos has a clearer message for our present
day social standards than that of any other Old Testament prophet.
The Gospel passage (Lk.16:1-13) presents the parable of the shrewd steward with some
admonitions on the proper use of wealth. This parable serves as a sign of
warning to the contemporaries of Jesus, so as to decide for the Kingdom of God,
before it becomes too late. As a matter of fact, the admonitions that follow the parable give it a new dimension:
the disciples are expected therefore to demonstrate a good dose of intelligence
in the use of wealth, like the shrewd steward, although his was for his own
interest.
The parable of the dishonest or the astute
steward reveals the dichotomy made by Jesus between “the sons of this world”
and “the sons of light”. However, it is as if Jesus praised the dishonest
servant for planning for his future. In that bid, we need to situate ourselves
into the historical context of that time, because that time among the Jews,
stewards had their own gains, illicit though. A steward's salary took the form of a commission on
the sale of his master's goods. This was his only salary. And so in reducing
the debtors’ bills the steward was not defrauding his master. He was only
giving up the commission due to himself. In that frame work, what the steward
gave up was part of his illegal gains. Little wonder, Jesus seems to praise him
for his “prudence”. He praised his astuteness and not the act. He gave up all his
illegal gains in order to find friends and plan for his future. Thus, Jesus
praised the shrewdness of that steward for he used his wealth to help others.
This is contrary to the conduct of the rich of Amos time who impoverished the
poor to enrich themselves the more. Instead the astute steward used the riches
of this world to build up friendship for his own interest and future.
The central point of the parable of Jesus
on the shrewd steward is the affirmation that “the sons of this world are wiser
in their own generation than the sons of light” (v.8). However, Jesus by no means intends to praise the steward in
question because of his fraud at the expense of his master, by falsifying the
receipts of his debtors and by reducing the amount the owe. Instead Jesus
praises him for his astuteness, shrewdness and his craftiness in acting
promptly in order to secure for himself a future, when he will no longer be in
administration. And Jesus bitterly
affirmed that the sons of the light (Christians) many a times are not astute
and prompt to secure for themselves eternal riches, like the children of
this world for their material interest. The children of this world do
everything and can go to any length to obtain what they desire; if we
Christians should make the same effort in doing good we would have been far
ahead in our journey of holiness. In comparison Jesus opined that “the sons of
this world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light” (v.8). This indeed is a sort of
challenge for the sons of light, for if
Christians should pursue holiness and are heavenly minded as the sons of the
world pursue wealth and are future minded, their light will dissipate the
darkness of selfishness and inordinate accumulation of wealth.
And applying the parable to the theme of
riches, Jesus admonishes: “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means
of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the
eternal habitations” (v.9). Those to
befriend are the poor, those who are friends of God. It is obvious that Jesus is not inviting us to acquire wealth through
unjust means and afterwards help the poor, far be it! Rather he is inviting
us to use what we have to help the poor and the needy, in order to guarantee
our future in Heaven, like the astute steward that befriended his master’s
debtors in order to secure his future in their houses. In few words, the
Christian use of riches is that of sharing with the poor and the needy. As
such, a Christian is astute and shrewd in the measure he shares his wealth with
the poor and the needy. A Christian is shrewd when he uses his or her riches to
help those Jesus called “the least of these brothers of mine” (Mt. 25:40), he went as far as
identifying himself with them, for “in so far as you did this to one of the
least brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Mt.
25:40). The word of God therefore invites us to give up the riches of this
world and attachment to them, for the true riches that endure forever, the heavenly
riches that will secure our eternal friendship with Jesus and our abode in
heaven. The Good News of today is that
Jesus is inviting us to bank in the Eternal Bank of Heaven, where our true
wealth and treasure are secured. Therefore, we should use what we have to
win friends for our eternal dwelling, not just for the earthly dwelling.
At the conclusion of the passage, Jesus
warns us sternly that “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve God
and mammon” (v. 13). It is therefore, an invitation to put God
first in our life, to put God as our priority and everything else is
subordinated to Him. The concept mammon does not signify only riches, but
also the accumulation of earthly riches. On the other hand, it has to do
especially with the tendency of trusting in riches and economic powers as a
guarantee for security. But in the
parlance of Jesus, there cannot be two supreme values or absolutes at the same
time. He, who makes money, riches, accumulation of wealth and economic
power his supreme value, cannot serve and love God with all his heart as he
ought to. And he who serves and loves God cannot be slave to money. Riches,
money and economic powers should by nature be at the service of man, but many a
times, they tend to render him a slave. There
is therefore need for decision: for or against God, for God or for mammon.
There is no 50-50 approach. A Christian thus, must pay attention to the seduction of wealth, the avidity of possession and the avarice of money, which can
contaminate not only the rich, but also the poor! If not, the Christian compromises
his rapport with God. For this, St. Paul in his letter to Timothy affirmed that
“The love of money is the root of
all evils’ and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith
and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds” (1Tm. 6:10).
In the passage of the second reading (1Tm.2:1-8) St. Paul brings to light the necessity of prayer. At first he
admonished the Christian community to pray always and for all, thus he gives prayer a universal
undertone. Not just for all, later St. Paul advised that particular prayers
be said for those in authority: for Kings and those in high positions. In fact,
the prayer is for all, geared towards a peaceful co-existence of all in the
society. The light and the strength to work for true riches come to Christians
through prayer. A Christian prays for all, for Kings and for all in high
positions. The fact of praying for all
is a way of subordinating all to the Power and Sovereignty of God, and
subordinating the worldly riches to the riches that cannot be destroyed or
exhausted. In prayer we understand that God will judge the rich, whose act of injustice towards the poor and the needy cries to God
(as revealed in the first reading). In prayer, we come to understand that the
richness of man consists in the richness of his faith. The one who prays with
holy hands lifted up to heaven, without anger or quarrelling discovers the
richness of salvation and grace, that Jesus Christ, the Mediator offers. On the
contrary, if one prays with dirty hands stained with blood as a result of
injustice and iniquities, or with hands filled with hatred and rancor, that
prayer cannot rise up to heaven.
In the ambience of prayer, we rediscover
that all the riches of this world come from above (God), man is a mere
administrator. At the school of prayer,
we come to grasp that the riches and the wealth of this world are only means of
collaborating with God, the Creator of all and with his Son, Jesus Christ who
holds all things in being (cf. Col.1:17). And equally a means of serving others
better, so that when we leave the administration of this world, we will be
welcomed in heaven where true riches abide.
(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)
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