Homily on the 19th Sunday of the Year C
1st Reading: Wisdom 18: 6 – 9. 2nd Reading: Hebrews 11: 1 – 2, 8 – 19. Gospel: Luke 12: 32 – 48.
The central theme of today’s readings is the necessity for trusting Faith in God’s promises and vigilant preparedness in the followers of Christ to meet their God as their Judge and Rewarder at the time of their death. Fidelity in doing God’s will is the best preparation for our death.
The first reading cites the Faith-filled preparedness of the ancient Hebrew slaves in Egypt before their mass exodus to the Promised Land. Their trusting Faith in their God’s promises gave them hope. We are told how their Faith and Hope resulted in their liberation. With expectant Hope, the Hebrews obediently sacrificed the first Passover lamb and ate the first ritual meal, as prescribed by their God through Moses. They awaited their imminent release and were prepared for it.
In the Gospel, Jesus challenges his disciples to trust the Father’s promise to give them eternal happiness in His kingdom. But they are to be prepared at all times, because the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour, either at the moment of their death or at the end of the world. Using the master-thief parable, Jesus warns us to be on our guard so that the thief (the devil), may not steal our treasure of Divine grace by his temptations. Using the master-servant parable, Jesus reminds us that we always need to do the will of God by obeying Jesus’ commandment of love, offering humble and sacrificial service to others.
Steadfast Faith and eternal vigilance: In the second part of today’s Gospel, Jesus exhorts his followers to be steadfast in their Faith and ever vigilant. He explains his point using three mini-parables. The servants of a master were entrusted with the management of the household. A trusted steward ran his master’s house and administered his estate. When his master was not at home, the steward was ever-vigilant. He prepared himself for his master’s return at any time of the day or night by always doing his duties faithfully. Jesus teaches us the need for constant vigilance, using yet another mini-parable, that of the thief and the treasure. We should not lose our treasure of Divine grace like the man who awoke one day to discover that a thief had stolen his wealth during the night. These parables are addressed to all believers to encourage “wakefulness” and preparedness. We must be vigilant like the servant in the parable waiting for his master’s unexpected return or like the wise homeowner who was well prepared for the unexpected break-in of a thief. Since the time of our death is quite uncertain, we, too, must be ever ready to meet our Lord at any moment. He should find us carrying out our tasks of love, mercy, and service, rather than leaving things undone or half-done. He should also find us at peace with God, with ourselves and with our fellowmen (Eph 4:26).
What kind of steward does God expects us to be? God expects Christians to be accountable, faithful, productive stewards of God’s grace and His gifts to us of creation, life, body, talents, skills, wealth and possessions. Negatively, in order that the Lord will find us responsible, faithful and productive stewards when he comes in glory, let us avoid some of these pitfalls and mistakes while awaiting the second coming of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour: First, complacency in that Jesus’ return is not yet imminent. Second, idleness or sloth–doing nothing. Third, gross negligence in the performance of duties. Fourth, procrastination –always postponing to another day what can be done today. Fifth, abuse of power and position and squandering of resources.
1) We need to be vigilant and ready to face the Lord. One of the traditional means for remaining alert is prayer. The most important element in prayer is listening to God – an attitude of attention to the “tiny whispering sound” of the Lord (1 Kgs 19:11-12). Such attentiveness demands that we set aside a quiet time every day during which we can tune our ears to the Divine sounds of love, harmony, and peace. Let us recall the words of the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him and he with me” (3:20).
2) We need to wait for the Lord. “Waiting for Christ to return” means working for the coming of the Kingdom of God. This means doing God’s will by rendering humble service to others by combating poverty, by ending the hatred that divides us, by establishing peace among individuals and nations, by curbing the pride that causes us to become confrontational, and by building social structures that respect the dignity of individual humans. We must wait for the Lord in our daily lives by learning to see Jesus in the least of our brothers and sisters. In other words, we must be prepared to serve Jesus in whatever form he takes. What we frequently discover in “serving” other people is that God comes to us through them.
“Faithful and prudent stewards” in the parish: Every so often there are people who want to make a spectacular gift to the Church — something big, something that can be seen and identified; usually it’s a gift in memory of a deceased loved one. No one ever says, “just apply this to the budget.” That’s understandable. There’s nothing flashy about paying the light bill or getting the carpet clean. But there are folks in every parish who are willing to do just that: the unspectacular, the un-flashy, the unnoticed things that make a big difference in the lives of the parish and the people it serves. We are all called to be “faithful and prudent servants” of the abilities and resources that the “Master” has entrusted to us and will hold us accountable for — not for the breadth and depth of those gifts.