Deacon Tom Anthony

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 135

Reading 1 Am 8:4-7

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
 and destroy the poor of the land!
 "When will the new moon be over," you ask,
 "that we may sell our grain,
 and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?
 We will diminish the ephah,
 add to the shekel,
 and fix our scales for cheating!
 We will buy the lowly for silver,
 and the poor for a pair of sandals;
 even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!"
 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
 Never will I forget a thing they have done!

Responsorial Psalm Ps 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8

R. (cf. 1a, 7b) Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
 praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
 both now and forever.
R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
High above all nations is the LORD;
 above the heavens is his glory.
Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high
 and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
 from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
to seat them with princes,
 with the princes of his own people.
R. Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2 1 Tm 2:1-8

Beloved:
First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers,
petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone,
for kings and for all in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life
in all devotion and dignity.
This is good and pleasing to God our savior,
who wills everyone to be saved
and to come to knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God.
There is also one mediator between God and men,
     the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself as ransom for all.
This was the testimony at the proper time.
For this I was appointed preacher and apostle
— I am speaking the truth, I am not lying —,
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray,
lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.

Alleluia Cf. 2 Cor 8:9

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor,
so that by his poverty you might become rich.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples,
"A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
'What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.'
The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.'
He called in his master's debtors one by one.
To the first he said,
'How much do you owe my master?'
He replied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.'
He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.'
Then to another the steward said, 'And you, how much do you owe?'
He replied, 'One hundred kors of wheat.'
The steward said to him, 'Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.'
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
"For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?
No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon."

 MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 To fully understand what Jesus is telling us in the Gospel Reading today we cannot forget that, as Christians, we are separate from the world and are on a different path of development which is counter-cultural to that which is expected of us in society today. Even though we are a part of society we are at the same time detached from it by us putting Jesus Christ first in our lives and putting His teachings foremost in our thoughts. Our decisions are influenced by that which is eternal and we strive to overcome earthly temptations that might corrupt us and threaten our relationship with Jesus. The progressions that are witnessed in society and the cultural norms are viewed with distrust, knowing that the influences of Satan are constantly at work throughout the very foundation which it is built upon. Our spirituality which brings us closer to God has as much importance in our lives as our mental and physical well-being which is affected by that which is around us. When we are spiritually healthy and in communion with God then our mental and physical fitness is more rooted in that which is divine instead of in this world. The Apostle Paul mentions this in his Letter to the Romans: the flesh being in constant battle with the spirit because they are incompatible in this world. The spirit must take precedence over that which is of this world in order for us to be in right relationship with God.

Living in this world we will be confronted with worldly situations and will be forced into worldly dilemmas that will not involve our spirituality but will have their origins in things created by society. Even though these things and their solutions might have their roots in the material and will demand a material solution we are still obligated to approach them with spirituality and an honesty dictated by the knowledge of the higher truth that we answer to which is God. As Christians, we can serve as an example by not letting that which is corruptible not corrupt our decision-making process and cause us to become like the ones that Jesus warned us about. We can stay uncorrupted when dealing with corruptible things by staying close to God. At the same time every situation can have a positive outcome when the presence of God is realized and as long as He remains the guiding force and He maintains His importance in our lives above and beyond the other things that we are forced to deal with that have their origins within a materialistic society.

The actions of the dishonest steward after he was called to account by his master at first perception appear to be a further abuse of his office but in reality are not. Knowing that his time as the rich man’s steward was coming to an end the steward decided to make some wise decisions to insure his future security and to also perform acts of charity that were within the powers of his office. He forgave some debts owed and insured the friendship of those involved. None of his actions were of a dishonest nature but they were ones that were performed within the power and authority of his office which he was still holding albeit for a short amount of time. He did not further perform dishonest acts for personal gain which led to the situation at hand but chose to perform honest acts that benefited not only him but all those who were involved. In the end, everyone benefited including the rich man whose authority the steward was acting with, for the rich man would definitely gain from the reduction of debt the debtors owed since they would have a new found respect for him and would in turn arguably increase their business transactions with him. Seeing the results of this way of thinking the rich man then rewarded the steward with a reprieve on his punishment.

Through the guidance of God, everyone benefits. No one is left out. There is no negative outcome. We as Christians are encouraged to think and act this way all of the time. We are working in an imperfect system that we can be able to bring perfection to. There is no need to utilize dishonesty even when confronted with dishonesty. The dishonest steward saw this and adjusted his behavior accordingly with positive results. Wounded by sin, we too can become healed through this same process. Anything of this world is considered less important in comparison to that of the mystical world which is eternal. If we commit ourselves to conducting ourselves rightly in the affairs of this world we will strengthen our relationship with God and our spirituality will flourish. A strengthened spirituality will then cause us to approach the challenges of this world more honestly and openly as a result. This will ultimately open the floodgates of God’s Love and bring us into higher relationship with Him.

Everyone wins. No one loses.

Deacon Tom