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Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

19 Sep 2010

SUNDAY SUMMARY Amos 8:4-7 With fixed scales, the new math makes it easy for sellers to cheat their neighbors. Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8 God lifts up the poor to seat them with the princes of their people. 1 Timothy 2:1-8 Devotion and dignity go hand in hand, as the holy life is marked by order and tranquility. Luke 16:1-13 or 16:10-13 The new math also helps a dishonest steward to cheat his master—and be lauded for it!

Amos 8:4-7 Psalm 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8 1 Timothy 2:1-8 Luke 16:1-13 Luke 16:10-13

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Prudent choices

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Occasion: Catechetical Sunday Readings: Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13 or Luke 16:10-13 DOES GOD want you to be prudent? At first glance, that would seem to be Jesus’ message. But look a little more closely at the context. Just last week we heard of the prodigal son who returned home destitute and in disgrace. His father responded very imprudently, as the older son pointed out. In the first reading today, the grain sellers seem to be acting prudently, looking for ways to maximize their profits. But they are not praised; they are warned that God will not forget their actions. So why does the dishonest steward in the gospel receive praise? Why does Jesus seem to hold up the dishonest steward as an example to be followed by the children of the light? Does Jesus really mean that, when we are desperate, it is good for us to act in the same sordid, calculating way as dishonest people do when they are desperate? Is that how the world will recognize that we are children of the light? By our cleverness? The absurdity of that kind of thinking becomes even more bizarre when we imagine trying to teach it to others. We have several catechists among us today. It is the job of the catechists to find the faith message in this story and teach it to the rest of us in a way that it draws us closer to God. Do we really intend to send the catechists out from here to teach that Christians are to “make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth”? Do we want parents, who are the primary catechists of the domestic church, to teach our children that swindling people is the way to gain God’s favor? Amos, in fact, tells a very different story of how God deals with those who swindle the poor whom God loves. WHEN JESUS tells the disciples to be prudent in the ways of the world, he seems to have a slightly sarcastic undertone, much like the parent who responds to a teenager’s request to attend a weekend party at a friend’s house. “Will your friend’s parents be home?” Dad asks. “I don’t know.” “Will there be alcohol there?” “I don’t know.” “Then, I don’t see any reason why you can’t go.” “Really? I can go?” “When hell freezes over.” Jesus most certainly does not want us to mimic the ways of the world. Jesus himself was completely imprudent about the ways of the world. He ate with people he shouldn’t and forgave people who didn’t deserve it. He comforted the poor and challenged the powerful even when it became clear it would lead to the cross. Jesus did not give in to the ways of the world because he knew we cannot serve two masters. To give in a little here and there is to try to have it both ways. He had to make a choice. In this parable, he is telling his disciples they need to make a choice. Jesus did not give in to the ways of the world because he knew we cannot serve two masters. To give in a little here and there is to try to have it both ways. We also have to make a choice. In our homes, in school, at work, we can choose to do the prudent things. We can choose the security and the “eternal dwellings” of this earth. Or we can choose to be lavish in our generosity. We can choose to forgive each other even when we were right all along. We can choose to stand up to the powerful in this world for the sake of the poor even if it means rocking the boat a little. That is the choice we make every Sunday when we come to the eucharistic table. When we say “amen” to the broken Body of Christ, we are choosing to be broken ourselves. When we say “amen” to the Blood of Christ, we are choosing to get bloodied ourselves. By saying “amen,” we choose to be heedless about what it will cost to end poverty and injustice. We choose to be indiscreet in giving our compassion. We choose to share our love and our joy of life with others. We absolutely choose the imprudent reality of God’s reign, right here, right now, in this very place. When we make that choice, we are teaching our children to choose. We are teaching the catechumens to choose. We are teaching each other to choose. When we leave here each week, you catechists must continue to teach us how to choose. You must teach us to be as imprudent as Jesus was for the sake of gospel. You must teach us how to go to the cross.

Authors Nick Wagner

Special occasion catechetical sunday Amos 8:4-7 1 Timothy 2:1-8 Luke 16:1-13 Luke 16:10-13

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