A Homily – The Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

First Reading - Amos 8:4-7 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 112(113):1-2, 4-8 ©

Second Reading – 1 Timothy 2:1-8 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Acts 16:14

Alternative Acclamation – 2 Corinthians 8:9

The Gospel According to Luke 16:1 - 13 ©

 

(NJB)

 

Listen!

God does not keep a tally of our good and bad deeds, God does not set us on a scale to weigh the one against the other in order to determine if we are worthy to continue in life.

God loves us as a parent loves a child; the creator of the universe has a plan for our salvation and it includes the good and the bad alike.

Be mindful:

The divine spirit knows what we have done and why we have done it, God knows all of our intentions and the full range of consequence that applies to each of our actions.

God knows whether we gave to the needy or stole from them, hoarded food or fed the hungry, God knows if we fomented violence among our neighbors, and God knows if you led a humble life as a servant of justice and mercy

God knows what we say in our heart of hearts, how we deceive ourselves and justify our deceit. God knows because the divine spirit called us into being, we dwell within the godhead and are sustained by it.

God is not—not present in any space; the divine spirit is coterminous with our own.

Know this:

The creator of the universe does not intervene in the lives of individuals, nor in the course of human history. God desires that we do good and refrain from evil, but God made the whole of creation free, and us in it…free to choose one path or the other.

All of the evil we commit, including the evil consequences of our evil actions…none of it disturbs the fundamental goodness of the godhead. The entire sum of evil and sin in the universe, all of it, from the beginning to the end of time, is necessarily finite, and as such it is infinitely less than the infinite good ness of the loving God. God has promised to resolve it, and God has the perfect ability to do so.

We experience evil here on earth, both passively and actively, but we carry none of it with us into eternity…Augustine was right to equate evil with nothing.

It is wise to praise the creator; it is good to be thankful for existence itself, but do not look to God for favor in this world, look to your brothers and sisters, to your friends and family, seek it from the stranger and give it in return.

Understand this.

God wants everyone to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth…this is the heart of the gospel. God desires the salvation of all people and has laid aa plan into the foundation of the universe to make it happen.

Our faith is in God, and God’s intention towards creation, that faith is the basis of our hopes, and by those hopes we have the blueprint for a just society.

Be mindful!

God will not intervene on your behalf, either to help you or hinder you but God does see you and hear you, God feels you and God is with you.

Know this!

Jesus is not a lord, though he was rich in spiritual gifts, which he shared with many; he shared his gifts with all whom he encountered, and in the sharing those gifts he became even more resplendent.

There was no poverty, lack or want in Jesus…we had a true friend.

It is your task to find your path through the world, and this world that have been born into is a dangerous and capricious place…you must find your path, take the good with bad, take the bad with good…you have no other choice.

You may steer your own vessel, but you do not control the storm, the wind, the rain, the waves, or the current. You have little say in the choices that other people make, the consequences of which may buffet and beat and batter you…therefore, b e loving, merciful, and just; strive to possess these qualities regardless of how you fail, and you will fail time and time again, but regardless of your failings rest assured that you remain the subject of God’s love. Listen to the divine spirit when it calls on you to love what is good and to avoid what is evil.

Be kind to people and develop friendships, we cannot go through life without them.

We need each other, we are communal beings, our relationships are what truly matter; they matter more than wealth, or power, or prestige. The world is full of calamities; we will not survive them without our friends.

First Reading - Amos 8:4-7 ©

I Will Never Forget your Deeds, you who Trample on the Needy

isten to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country, you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over  so that we can sell our corn, and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?

Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel, by swindling and tampering with the scales,

we can buy up the poor for money, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’

The Lord swears it by the pride of Jacob, ‘Never will I forget a single thing you have done.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 112(113):1-2, 4-8 ©

Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.

Praise, O servants of the Lord,

  praise the name of the Lord!

May the name of the Lord be blessed

  both now and for evermore!

Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.

High above all nations is the Lord,

  above the heavens his glory.

Who is like the Lord, our God,

  who has risen on high to his throne

yet stoops from the heights to look down,

  to look down upon heaven and earth?

Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.

From the dust he lifts up the lowly,

  from the dungheap he raises the poor

to set him in the company of princes,

  yes, with the princes of his people.

Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – 1 Timothy 2:1-8 ©

Pray for Everyone to God, Who Wants Everyone to be Saved

My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right, and will please God our saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all. He is the evidence of this, sent at the appointed time, and I have been named a herald and apostle of it and – I am telling the truth and no lie – a teacher of the faith and the truth to the pagans.

In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.

 

Gospel Acclamation – Acts 16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord, to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – 2 Corinthians 8:9

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus Christ was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Luke 16:1 - 13 ©

You Cannot Be the Slave of Both God and Money

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”

Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.”

‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.

‘And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’

 

A Homily – The Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)