2019년 9월 22일 일요일 연중 제25주일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
아모스 예언서8,4-7
4 빈곤한 이를 짓밟고, 이 땅의 가난한 이를 망하게 하는 자들아, 이 말을 들어라! 5 너희는 말한다. “언제면 초하룻날이 지나서 곡식을 내다 팔지?
언제면 안식일이 지나서 밀을 내놓지? 에파는 작게, 세켈은 크게 하고, 가짜 저울로 속이자. 6 힘없는 자를 돈으로 사들이고, 빈곤한 자를 신 한 켤레 값으로 사들이자. 지스러기 밀도 내다 팔자.”
7 주님께서 야곱의 자만을 두고 맹세하셨다. “나는 그들의 모든 행동을 결코 잊지 않으리라.”
제2독서
티모테오 1서.2,1-8
사 랑하는 그대여, 1 나는 무엇보다도 먼저 모든 사람을 위하여 간청과 기도와 전구와 감사를 드리라고 권고합니다. 2 임금들과 높은 지위에 있는 모든 사람을 위해서도 기도하여, 우리가 아주 신심 깊고 품위 있게, 평온하고 조용한 생활을 할 수 있도록 하십시오.
3 그렇게 하는 것이 우리의 구원자이신 하느님께서 좋아하시고, 마음에 들어 하시는 일입니다. 4 하느님께서는 모든 사람이 구원을 받고 진리를 깨닫게 되기를 원하십니다.
5 하느님은 한 분이시고, 하느님과 사람 사이의 중개자도 한 분이시니, 사람이신 그리스도 예수님이십니다. 6 당신 자신을 모든 사람의 몸값으로 내어 주신 분이십니다. 이것이 제때에 드러난 증거입니다. 7 나는 이 증거의 선포자와 사도로, 다른 민족들에게 믿음과 진리를 가르치는 교사로 임명을 받았습니다. 나는 진실을 말할 뿐, 거짓말을 하지 않습니다.
8 그러므로 나는 남자들이 성을 내거나 말다툼을 하는 일 없이, 어디에서나 거룩한 손을 들어 기도하기를 바랍니다.
복음
루카. 16,1-13<또는 16,10-13>
짧은 독서를 할 때에는 < > 부분을 생략한다.
그때에 1 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
<“어떤 부자가 집사를 두었는데, 이 집사가 자기의 재산을 낭비한다는 말을 듣고, 2 그를 불러 말하였다. ‘자네 소문이 들리는데, 무슨 소린가? 집사 일을 청산하게. 자네는 더 이상 집사 노릇을 할 수 없네.’
3 그러자 집사는 속으로 말하였다. ‘주인이 내게서 집사 자리를 빼앗으려고 하니 어떻게 하지? 땅을 파자니 힘에 부치고, 빌어먹자니 창피한 노릇이다. 4 옳지, 이렇게 하자. 내가 집사 자리에서 밀려나면, 사람들이 나를 저희 집으로 맞아들이게 해야지.’
5 그래서 그는 주인에게 빚진 사람들을 하나씩 불러 첫 사람에게 물었다. ‘내 주인에게 얼마를 빚졌소?’ 6 그가 ‘기름 백 항아리요.’ 하자, 집사가 그에게 ‘당신의 빚 문서를 받으시오. 그리고 얼른 앉아 쉰이라고 적으시오.’ 하고 말하였다.
7 이어서 다른 사람에게, ‘당신은 얼마를 빚졌소?’ 하고 물었다. 그가 ‘밀 백 섬이오.’ 하자, 집사가 그에게 ‘당신의 빚 문서를 받아 여든이라고 적으시오.’ 하고 말하였다.
8 주인은 그 불의한 집사를 칭찬하였다. 그가 영리하게 대처하였기 때문이다. 사실 이 세상의 자녀들이 저희끼리 거래하는 데에는 빛의 자녀들보다 영리하다.
9 내가 너희에게 말한다. 불의한 재물로 친구들을 만들어라. 그래서 재물이 없어질 때에, 그들이 너희를 영원한 거처로 맞아들이게 하여라.>
10 아주 작은 일에 성실한 사람은 큰일에도 성실하고, 아주 작은 일에 불의한 사람은 큰일에도 불의하다.
11 그러니 너희가 불의한 재물을 다루는 데에 성실하지 못하면, 누가 너희에게 참된 것을 맡기겠느냐? 12 또 너희가 남의 것을 다루는 데에 성실하지 못하면, 누가 너희에게 너희의 몫을 내주겠느냐?
13 어떠한 종도 두 주인을 섬길 수 없다. 한쪽은 미워하고, 다른 쪽은 사랑하며, 한쪽은 떠받들고, 다른 쪽은 업신여기게 된다. 너희는 하느님과 재물을 함께 섬길 수 없다.”
September 22, 2019
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
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
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
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.
Gospel
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."
http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow
«You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money»
Fr. Joan MARQUÉS i Suriñach
(Vilamarí, Girona, Spain)
Today, the Gospel introduces us to the figure of the unfaithful steward: a man rendering a fraudulent service to his master. He is just a simple steward, but behaves as his master. We must bear in mind:
1) Material goods are actually necessary and good, because they come from God's hands. Consequently, we have to prize them.
2) But we cannot “worship” them as if they were God and the ultimate meaning or purpose to our existence; we have to be open-handed. Riches are meant for us to better serve God and men, our brothers; not to expel God from our heart and our deeds: «You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money» (Lk 16:13).
3) We are not owners, but simple stewards; therefore, not only are we supposed to be trustworthy with whatever we administer, but we are also to make it yield to the best of our possibilities. The parable of the talents shows it quite clearly (cf. Mt 25:14-30).
4) Do not let greed drag us along; we have to practice liberality, which is a virtue we should all have, whether rich or poor, each one depending upon his circumstances. We have to give others!
What if I have enough for my own expenses? Yes, you must also try to increase your wealth to be able to give more (parish, diocese, Caritas, apostolate). Remember St. Ambrose's words: «It is not part of your worldly goods what you give to the poor; what you are giving them is already theirs. Because you have appropriated what has been given for the fruition of all. Land belongs to all, not only to the rich».
Are you so selfish that you only think of amassing material goods, even if it is as the Gospel's steward did, by lying, stealing, by being stingy, hard-hearted and indifferent to others' needs? Do you ever ponder over St. Paul's words? «God loves a cheerful giver» (2Cor 9:7). Be generous!
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
The theme of suppression of the poor, and swindling flows into advice on assuring peace and quiet for practicing our religion, to dealing with shrewd business practices. None of these topics has ceased to be of concern to us; they may be even more pressing today than ever before. Amos describes those who suppress the poor: they tampered with the scales; bought up the allegiance of the poor with money, and the needy with a pair of sandals. Some would even sell the sweepings of the wheat, rather than give them to the poor. Amos admonishes those who do these things: “The Lord …will never forget a thing they have done!”
Jesus speaks to his disciples, and to us, about our inevitable conflicts when we are driven to weigh what seems to be demanded by society, and what we discern in our hearts to be the will of God. The parable of the crafty, shrewd, wasteful, cunning, tricky steward has always been a puzzle to me. He deserves the negative adjectives that we may assign him, but we meet him at a time in his life that causes an abrupt change in his actions. He essentially was accused by his master of unsound and wasteful business practices. He was a poor steward, because he could not even be trusted with small matters. Suddenly, however, he was faced with the loss of his job, his social standing, and even his future livelihood. This was no longer, in most people’s estimation, a small matter. His response was unexpected, but shrewd. He made friends with those who owed his master. While he still had the power to do so, he slashed the amounts that they owed the master. He, thereby, assured that he would be asked into their homes, and possibly, would even be employed by them; he was saved from ruin and humiliation.
Why did Jesus seem to praise the actions of this man? When I first heard this parable as a youngster, I imagined that it was because the steward saved himself, and at the same time exhibited a kind of financial kindness to the debtors. Jesus, I now believe, is telling us that this is an example of behavior that is considered to be good practice by those who are not “Children of the Light,” i.e., not yet his followers. The steward did the best that he could while in the service of money and those who control it. Jesus warns us that we cannot serve two masters. While our allegiance is divided between what pleases God, and what will merely increase our personal wealth, or social standing, we are not “in the light”. We are constantly being measured, and we measure others by what riches and property they do or do not have. It is clear from Jesus’ words that we should try to recognize by our actions, words, and thoughts, the goodness of God in each person. Discern the spirit of God in our hearts.
St Paul was aware of the affects that kings, and others in authority can have on us and our religious practices. He reminds Timothy to offer prayers, petitions, and intercessions, especially for kings and others in authority…”so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet.” God wants all of us to be saved. Pray for times of peace and quiet. Pray for times that allow us to serve just one master, God.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
GRACE AND PEACE | ||
| "Prayer of this kind is good, and God our Savior is pleased with it, for He wants all men to be saved." �1 Timothy 2:3-4 | ||
Jesus died on the cross so that all would be saved from sin, death, and damnation. We are saved by His grace, which we must decide to accept by faith (Eph 2:8) and live in love with all our hearts (see Lk 10:27). The decisions to accept God's saving graces are the most important decisions of our lives. However, these decisions are extremely difficult to make, for we are strongly pressured by the world, the flesh, and the devil to choose pride, pleasure, and selfishness rather than God's grace and love. However, the Lord calls us to "lead undisturbed and tranquil lives in perfect piety and dignity" (1 Tm 2:2). In this context, we are much more likely to repeatedly choose grace and thereby salvation. Consequently, we must make it a priority to pray for everyone, particularly for godly leaders who will set up a society of peace, tranquility, and respect for human rights (see 1 Tm 2:1ff). We must then submit ourselves to the godly authority of pastors, government leaders, husbands, parents, employers, etc. Our culture of death sets us up to reject grace after grace by making bad decision after bad decision. However, a civilization of love in which we live "undisturbed and tranquil" lives brings out the best in us as we decide again and again to live in grace. Grace and peace to you (Phil 1:2). | ||
| Prayer: Father, show me the relationship between lifestyle and grace. | ||
| Promise: "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or be attentive to the one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and money." —Lk 16:13 | ||
| Praise: Praise You, Jesus, "the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tm 6:15). Alleluia! |
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
"Who will entrust to you the true riches?"
What does wealth and riches have to do with the kingdom of God? Jesus seemed to praise a steward (a manager entrusted with his master's goods) who misused his wealthy employer's money. What did the steward do that made Jesus praise him? The steward was responsible for managing his wealthy landowner's property. The steward very likely overcharged his master's tenants for their use of the land and kept more than his fair share of the profit. When the landowner discovered the steward's dishonest practice he immediately removed him from his job, leaving him penniless and ashamed to beg or do manual work.
The necessity of prudent foresight to avert disaster
Before news of his dismissal became public knowledge, the shrewd steward struck a deal with his master's debtors. In discounting their debts he probably was giving up his generous commission. Such a deal won him great favor with the debtors. Since the steward acted as the landowner's agent, such a deal made his master look very generous and forgiving towards those who owned him money. Surely everyone would praise such a generous landowner as the town hero! Since the master could not undo the steward's cancellation of the debts without losing face and making his debtors resent him, he praised the steward for outwitting him and making him appear as a generous and merciful landowner.
Generous giving is rewarded with treasure that lasts forever
What's the point of Jesus' parable? Jesus did not praise the steward for his dishonest behavior but for his shrewd foresight in relieving the debts of others who he believed would, in turn, treat him as a friend and show him mercy, kindness, and generosity in his time of need and great want. Jesus immediately followed this parable with an exhortation to his followers to make use of the world's material goods, including "tainted money" ( which in Hebrew means "unrighteous mammon"), to relieve those who are indebted to us for the material and physical help we give them in their time of need and want. In the Scriptures generous giving is connected with alms giving - the sharing of our financial and material resources with those in need (Luke 12:33). Those who receive alms become your friends because you are merciful to them in their time of need. And God who sees all, rewards those who are generous in helping others.
Generous giving will be repaid in kind. Augustine of Hippo reminds us that we are all beggars of God.
"Even though you possess plenty, you are still poor. You abound in temporal possessions, but you need things eternal. You listen to the needs of a human beggar, you yourself are a beggar of God. What you do with those who beg from you is what God will do with his beggar. You are filled and you are empty. Fill your neighbor from your fullness, so that your emptiness may be filled from God's fullness" (Sermon 56, 9).
Paul the Apostle reminds us, "We brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything out of this world" (1 Timothy 6:7). The Lord Jesus wants us to make good use of all the resources that he gives us and that come into our possession. Our life is short - but how we invest in this present life will determine our future in the age to come when the Lord Jesus will raise our mortal bodies to immortality and give to each what he or she has sown in this present life.
The rabbis had a saying, "The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come." Ambrose, a 4th century bishop commenting on the parable of the rich fool who tore down his barns to build bigger ones to store his goods. said: The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever. The true treasure which lasts is the treasure stored up for us in heaven. God richly rewards those who give generously from the heart to help those in need.
True generosity does not impoverish - but enriches the giver
What is the enemy of generosity? It's greed, the excessive desire for personal gain and security. However, we do not need to be afraid for true generosity does not impoverish the giver, but enriches that person a hundredfold! Generosity expands the soul - but greed contracts it. God is generous and superabundant in lavishing his gifts upon us. We can never outmatch God in generosity. He has given us the best of gifts in sending us his only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who offered up his life for us on the cross. The Father also offers us the gift of the Holy Spirit who fills us with the fruit of peace, joy, patience, kindness, love, and self-control (Galatians 5:22) - and many other blessings as well. Everything we have is an outright gift of God. Do you know the joy and freedom of blessing others with the gifts and resources God has given to you?
What controls or rules your life?
Jesus concludes his parable with a lesson on what controls or rules our lives. Who is the master (or ruler) in charge of your life? Our "master" is that which governs our thought-life, shapes our ideals, and controls the desires of the heart and the values we choose to live by. We can be ruled by many different things - the love of money or possessions, the power of position, the glamor of wealth and prestige, the driving force of unruly passions and addictions. Ultimately the choice boils down to two: God and "mammon". What is mammon? "Mammon" stands for "material wealth or possessions" or whatever tends to "control our appetites and desires."
When a number of the religious leaders heard Jesus' parable they reacted with scorn (Luke 16:14). Jesus spoke to the condition of their hearts - they were lovers of money (Luke 16:14). Love of money and wealth crowd out love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus makes clear that our heart must either be possessed by God's love or our heart will be possessed by the love of something else.
The Lord alone can satisfy our desires and give us generous hearts
There is one Master alone who has the power to set us free from greed and possessiveness. That Master is the Lord Jesus Christ who died to set us free and who rose to give us new abundant life. The Lord Jesus invites us to make him the Master and Lord of our lives. He alone can satisfy the desires of our heart and transform us in his love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our money, time, and possessions are precious resources and gifts from God. We can guard them jealously for ourselves alone or allow the love of the Lord to guide us in making good use of them for the benefit of others - especially those in need - and for the work of the Lord in advancing his kingdom. Ask the Lord to fill your heart with a spirit of generosity and joy in sharing what you have with others.
"Lord Jesus, all that I have is a gift from you. May I love you freely and generously with all that I possess. Help me to be a wise and faithful steward of the resources you put at my disposal, including the use of my time, money, and possessions."
Psalm 1138:1-8
1 Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD!
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised!
4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down upon the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus recommends the foresight, prudence, and ingenuity of the steward, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. on top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job. Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, 'Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light.' They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future. In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master's decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?" (excerpt from 359A.10.)
http://www.homilies.net/
25 Ordinary Time
25 Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle C
Luke 16:1-13
"For a quick check on your heart," someone has wisely counseled, "look into your checkbook."
In the precarious movie industry, actor Paul Newman has managed to remain a super-star for a long time. He is a man who has developed all his personal gifts to the full. His many fans throughout the world will attest to this point. In addition, he has enthusiastically lived verse 9 of today's Gospel. "Use your worldly wealth to win friends for yourselves, so that when money is a thing of the past, you may be received into an eternal home."
Mr Newman has given away more than ten million dollars to various charitable causes. Additionally, he sponsors a camp for youngsters who are terminally ill. Sixteen hundred sick children receive a summer holiday in the country courtesy of the actor. This venture has cost him additional millions.
Billy Graham might have Paul Newman in mind when he said, "God has given us two hands - one to receive with and the other to give with."
If anyone is following the admonition of psalm 113, vs 7-8, it is Newman. "He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor to seat them with princes..."
The next few sentences from this preacher will come as a surprise to no one. Just as Newman is generous with the gifts that God has given to him, so should we Catholics. We need not be as lavish as he is. Yet, would it not be wonderful if proportionate to our wealth, whether large or small, we were?
Please note I am speaking today not about giving to your parish but rather giving to charities across the board. I think of those that especially relieve the burdens of the poor.
Verse 9 of today's Gospel may well have inspired the epitaph found on an English grave. "What I kept I lost. What I spent I had. What I gave I have."
We might do well to reflect from time to time on this message from the Talmud while we still have the time. "We are born with our hands clenched. We die with our hands open. Entering life we desire to grasp everything. Leaving the world all that we possess slips away."
But, brothers and sister, a Gallup poll recently revealed bad news about us. Catholic households contribute on average less money to charities than members of all other religious groups in the United States. There are no pockets in burial shrouds nor armored cars in funeral processions. Still the majority of us are convinced we can somehow take our money out with us into the next life. Unhappily far too many of us possess what are called deep pockets and short arms.
After all, even the pagan Greeks considered the poor "the ambassadors of the gods." Can we Christians and Catholics, who profess to follow the Poor Man of Nazareth, consider them less?
Who was it who said that the hardening of the heart ages people more quickly than hardening of the arteries?
The advice of St John Chrysostom should be taken more seriously by us. God never condemned anyone for not enriching our churches with magnificent furniture. However, He does threaten with hell those who do not give to the poor. Chrysostom might well have had today"s verse 9 in mind or of course the famous Matthew 25, 31-46.
Verse 13 instructs us today: "No servant can serve two masters...You cannot give yourself to God and mammon." With the advice of the Teacher in mind, many of us do attempt to somehow straddle the fence between God and mammon. We are very similar to the man who lived smack on the Mason-Dixon line during the United States Civil War. He did not want to choose sides. So, he wore a Union jacket and Confederate pants. But, unhappily for him, the Union soldiers shot at his pants. And the Confederates shot at his jacket.
Like it or no, we must choose sides. If we opt for the poor, we will discover a wonderful thing happening to us. When love opens the heart, writes one observer, we will find it will also open our hand too.
Recall the aphorism that teaches money can be your master or your servant.
Frjoeshomilies.net
25 Ordinary Time
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Becoming Spiritually Savvy
"Well, if you believe that, I've got a bridge you can buy." That ｅxpression came from the antics of George C. Parker. George C. Parker was a clever con man who used to convince people that he could sell them the Brooklyn Bridge. They say he sold the Brooklyn Bridge as often as twice a week for thirty years. Now, why would anyone want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge? It's not like they could put it in their back yards. Well, Parker told his victims that once they owned the bridge, they could set their own tolls. This is a true story. It took place during the 1920's in New York City. Several times the police had to stop the "new owners" of the Brooklyn Bridge from setting up toll booths in the middle of the span.
Now, aside from being naive, and perhaps a bit dim-witted, why would people believe Parker and give him up to $50,000 for the Bridge? This happened because Parker worked hard studying his potential victims. He knew what made them tick and exploited their weakness. For some it was greed; for others it was vanity. "You could rename the bridge after yourself. After all, it would be your bridge." one man had his doubts and asked Parker, "Are you sure the bridge is for sale?"
Parker told him, "Of course it is for sale, didn't you see the for sale sticker on one of the beams?"
And the man believed him!
For those who were a bit more intelligent, hopefully the rest of the world, Parker had set up an office complete with pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge and bogus legal papers. He did quite a bit of work and earned quite a bit of cash. Oh, he also was convicted of fraud and spent the last nine years of his life in New York's Sing Sing Prison.
We don't have to go back 100 years to find people using their intelligence to cheat people. No one appeared brighter or worked harder, or was a bigger cheat than Bernie Madoff. He held high positions on Wall Street. Major companies, large charities and the extremely rich had to beg him to meet with them to discuss investments. Some of them made money. But then what he was doing, a ponzi scheme, came to light in 2008. Investigators estimated the amount of money he cheated people out of to be 64.8 billion dollars. He thought he was so smart, but he was a cheat. He is currently an inmate at a Federal Prison serving a 150 year term.
The first reading presents ancient Hebrews cheating their fellow countrymen. They diminish the ephah, and add to the shekel, and fix their scales for cheating. Let me explain. Say, you were going to buy ten pounds of flour. The flour merchant says that a pound is no longer 16 oz. It is now 12 oz. That would be diminishing the pound. So it would cost you more to buy the amount of flour you needed. And say that you could only buy flour by using the Temple money, the shekel. That meant you had to go to the money changers. You usually get, making a comparison using our terms, a shekel for two dollars. But the money changers, in cahoots with the merchants, are saying that a shekel now costs three dollars. So you end up paying a tremendous amount more for less flour. And to make matters worse, the merchants fix the scales so you are not even getting the little you think you are getting. What cheats! The first reading concludes with "The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done!"
We are continually coming upon athletes who cheat. The whole Russian track and field team was barred from the Olympics due to the organized use of performance enhancing drugs. Many honest athletes take second and third to those who are dishonest. But at least the honest athletes can sleep at night knowing that win or lose, they have done their honest best. The same goes for those who cheat at school. Some "A's" are dishonest. It is better to have an honest "C" than a dishonest "A." People have plenty of opportunities to deceive others. It is easy for some people to make others suffer so that they can gain something, financial, athletic, in school, etc. But, as the first reading says, they cannot deceive the Lord. He knows, and he will not forget.
There is another aspect to all this. That is the effort that cheaters put into acquiring dishonest gain. That is what the Lord was speaking about when he told the parable of the cheating or unjust steward. Imagine if that man, and if all cheaters who spend so much time and effort devising schemes to commit fraud would instead use their intelligence to serve the Kingdom of God.
Imagine what our spiritual lives would be like if we used every bit of our intelligence to find ways to live as members of God's Kingdom?
Well, I know many of you do exactly that. Many of you, and hopefully I can say, of us, use our wits for the sake of the Kingdom of God. I love the story in this regard that Randy Raus tells. Randy is the president of Life Teen International. He lives in Atlanta and attends a parish that has 24 hour Eucharistic Adoration, seven days a week. Now as Randy tells the story, he went to Eucharistic Adoration 1 am on a Monday morning. The way his parish has it set up is that in the late night and early morning, the chapel doors are locked. When a person goes to spend time there, he or she knocks on the door and the person inside lets him in and they switch places. Well, it seems that one time Randy did this and the man who let him in saw that Randy was carrying a notebook and a pen. So, he asked him, "What are going to do with those?" Randy said that he likes to journal. "What's that?" the man asked. So Randy explained that he looks at the Blessed Sacrament and writes what he feels the Lord is saying to Him. The man asked if that always worked, and Randy said most of the time. Well, the next week when Randy went to Eucharistic Adoration the same man let him in. He was carrying his journal. He said to Randy, "God's saying a lot tonight."
They met up again a week later, and Randy asked him, "I haven't seen you in Church, which Mass do you go to?"
"Well, I don't go to Mass," the man said, but after this, I'm going to start going again."
Randy was shocked. He said, "You don't go to Mass but you go to Eucharistic Adoration?"
The man responded, "My wife told me that they need a night watchman here from 12 to 1 on Mondays."
Now, there is a wife who used her intelligence to spread the Kingdom of God. She figured out a way to get her husband back to Mass with him thinking that this was his idea and a good one. I've heard that wives are pretty good at that, getting their husbands to do the right thing while having him think it was his idea. Let's face it, guys, most girls know how to outsmart us. Now, ladies, I can read your thoughts. Your thinking, "It really doesn't take much, Father."
I'm sure that there are plenty people reading this who could also tell stories on how they used their intelligence to bring others to God or to come closer to Him themselves. There are many people who know how to avoid problems and how to put themselves in the proper place to be the sons or daughters of God they were created to be.
A person who acts on his or her intelligence is often called "savvy". A savvy person is as shrewd as a fox. Parker and Madoff thought they were savvy, but they each ended up in prison. And they weren't savvy with that which matters. We can be savvy in finding ways to spread the Kingdom of God.
Today we pray for the grace to always be honest and respectful of others and the grace, well, to be spiritually savvy
Stmaryvalleybloom.org
* Available in Spanish - see Spanish Homilies
25 Ordinary Time
Time to Take Action
(September 22, 2019)
Bottom line: Now is the time take action. "No servant can serve two masters...You cannot serve both God and mammon."
Today we have a puzzling Gospel: A master says to his steward, "Prepare a full account of your stewardship". The dishonest steward then commits fraud. Instead of sending him to jail, the master praises him: He "commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently." What's going on?
Well, to understand this parable we have to step back and see what preceded it. Jesus has been addressing the biggest question: eternal life. Do you remember when they ask Jesus "Will only a few people be saved"? Jesus replies, "enter through the narrow gate". Jesus later tells us we cannot be his disciples if we love parent, spouse or child more than him. Finally last Sunday Jesus tells three parables about redemption: the lost coin, the lost sheep and and the lost son. We are lost and we need to be found.
We are in a high stakes game. The stakes in fact could not be higher. But you know, most people say, "ho hum, that will wait, I've got more important business."
They are like the ones Amos describes in the first reading. They ask "When will the new moon be over...and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?" So anxious to get back to business, they chafe at the sabbath observances. Today of course many people don't even realize there is a sabbath - a day dedicated to the Lord. They barely think about God. For sure most don't deliberately reject God. They ignore him. They think that even if he does exist, he doesn't matter.
In face of this apathy Jesus tells a parable meant to deliberately shock. It's about a steward - a kind of financial administrator - who's about to lose his job. He's too weak for manual labor, too ashamed to beg. So he does something desperate. "I know what Is shall do," he says, "that when I am removed from stewardship, they may welcome me into their home." He cook the books, reducing a few people's debts. He hopes that when the master puts him out, somebody will remember what he did and take him in.
It's crazy. But the master praises him. Why? Because he takes action. He assesses his situation, realizes he could lose everything and so he acts.
That's the situation you and I are in. We can only enter through the narrow gate. Jesus says it clearly, "You cannot serve both God and mammon." Mammon means money and the stuff money can buy.
A couple weeks ago Jesus said that to be his disciple we have to renounce our possessions. This means everything we possess we place at Jesus' disposition - like the early Christians did in the Acts of Apostles. This becomes harder as we get older because we have more stuff.
We won't have it long. When multi-billionaire John Rockefeller died someone asked his accountant, "How much did he leave?" The accountant answered bluntly, "All of it."
So will you and I. Despite great medical advances the mortality rate is still 100%. Jesus says, "make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so when it fails you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings". Now is the time take action. "No servant can serve two masters...You cannot serve both God and mammon." Amen
Alexmcallister.co.uk
25 Ordinary Time
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
9/16/2019 0 Comments
The Gospel text today is rather puzzling. It is about the dishonest steward who when he faced dismissal marked down the debts owed to his master by various of his debtors. He did this in order that once he was made redundant these men would be obligated to help him. When the master finds out about his actions, he unexpectedly praises the steward for his dishonesty.
By telling this parable me might be left with the idea that Jesus too is condoning the actions of this dishonest steward. But we know that this cannot be; Jesus would never approve of dishonesty or double-dealing. Actually, when we take a closer look at the text, we see that Jesus draws a conclusion from the story. He says, 'The children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.' By this we understand that Jesus is contrasting the actions of the children of this world, namely the pagans, with those of the children of light, who are obviously the Christians.
Jesus does not want us to be like the pagans but he wants us to be just as astute as they are; but in our case to be astute in relation to those things which will ensure that we reach heaven. As we have so often noted, Jesus wants us to acquire the virtues because it is our practice of the virtues that will enable us to gain entry into his Kingdom. So, what we need to do is to put as much energy into acquiring these virtues as the pagans put in to aggrandising themselves and gaining worldly advantage.
St Luke follows up this parable with a few sayings of Jesus which he thinks fit in with the theme of this chapter of his Gospel which is the relationship between the Christian and the material world. The first of these sayings is 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.' Here it is clear Jesus is speaking about the poor. He is telling us to use our money not to find worldly advantage but rather spiritual advantage. We know that one of the essential tenets of the Gospel is that the poor have a privileged place in his Kingdom; so, therefore, using our money to help them will have the effect of enabling us to enter the Kingdom more easily.
Every Christian should be sensitive to the needs of the poor. Of course, it is very difficult to know who the real poor are. I remember talking to a fellow who was selling the magazine for the homeless called the 'Big Issue', I asked him about his life and it turned out he wasn't homeless at all and indeed I was astonished when he told me he was saving up to buy himself a boat!
Recently, I was approaching Westminster Cathedral when a couple of young women, who were sprawled on the pavement in Victoria Street drinking rather strong beer, started shouting at me. Because I was a priest, they thought that I ought to be giving them money. They called me a hypocrite when actually just the week before we had taken up a collection here in the Church to raise about £400 for the homeless centre run by the Sisters of Charity just around the corner to where they were sitting. If they were really homeless then they would have been grateful for this. But these people were clearly spongers and probably not poor at all. They were perfectly capable of working but yet would rather beg for money to pay for booze than earn a proper living.
The real poor are hidden; they have their pride and would never beg. Rather they prefer to struggle along doing their best to raise their children and living a poor but honest life. These are the ones we really need to be helping. But it is not easy; we need to establish a relationship with them, we need to become friends so that we can support them and help them out in thoroughly practical ways. This is how we show our commitment to the Christian faith. This is how we put into practice the teaching of Jesus.
Another of these sayings on this topic that St Luke has collected is this: '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.' The two masters are, of course, a self-seeking materialistic form of life or a spiritual and heavenly form of life. In short, paganism or Christianity; the Devil or Jesus. We cannot be beholden to both; we have to choose: materialism or faith, Jesus or the Devil.
A lot of us are tempted to sit on the fence and try to avoid making this choice. We may like to feel religious but we also like to own many material possessions. We say our prayers but we are also in thrall to fashion or to materialism, we want the latest gadget, we find ourselves thinking that acquiring more and more makes us better and better people. We start to measure our worth in terms of money in the bank or in the size of our house. Now there is nothing wrong with success, nothing wrong with living a comfortable life; the problem arises when these things become an end in themselves. The problem arises when we find ourselves ignoring the spiritual aspect of life in favour of these far more worldly concerns.
What Jesus is telling us is that we need to make a decisive choice in life. We need to definitively choose between the world and the spirit. Yes, have material things, seek success in work, live a comfortable life. But be cautious of these things. Understand well that they are not an end in themselves. Realise that the things of the spirit need to be given priority. Make more room for prayer; attend to the needs of the poor; do your best to life an honourable life; put more energy into acquiring the virtues than you put in to increasing your income. This is how to live the Christian life.
As Jesus says, 'You cannot be the slave of two masters.' So, choose your master. Make your choice and stick to it. Be astute in those things which will gain you a place in heaven. Pray to God, frequent the sacraments, attend to the poor, love your neighbour. Do these things and you will find favour with God. Do these things and you will ensure your eternal destiny.'
More Homilies
September 18, 2016 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
