FROM THE PULPIT TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR C. SCRIPTURE: Amos 8: 4-7; Psalm 113; 1Timothy 2: 1-8; Luke 16: 1-13. REFLECTION: Integrity Fr. Benoit Mukamba, C.S.Sp.
Prophet Amos condemns those who scrupulously observe religious holy days while practicing injustices against their fellow men. Such acts of injustice pollute the land. Lack of justice negatively affected a society. God notices such deliberate acts of injustice against the defenseless people and will turn the tables against the unjust. Cheating on the scale and using religious holidays for business are current issues and evils that we must deal with in our fight to make a just and God-fearing society. The story of the dishonest stewardship in the Gospel illustrates the same type of evils. The shrewdness of the steward is praised because about to be sacked for his dishonesty, he produces a scheme to win friends from his master’s debtors. He reduces the amount of the debts he made them owe to his boss. In this scheme, the owner got back his right property, the steward won kindness from the debtors and appeared a goodman. The debtors received an apparent debt relief. The owner praised the intelligence used in this scheme. Jesus calls disciples to apply such ingenuity to matters concerning eternal life, in building the Kingdom of God. The sons of this world are wiser in their own generation than the sons of light. When Paul was Saul, he used his intelligence and religious zeal to harm Christians. But once converted, Paul became an apostle and ardent preacher of the Gospel. His numerous letters to the Churches and disciples have come to form an essential part of the Holy Scripture. God has given each one of us intelligence and strength to glorify Him and not to serve our own selfish desires. Honesty is required of us in small as well as in big matters. All goods and we belong to God. We are simple managers of the temporal goods and our individual abilities. Let us put our efforts and ingenuity in gaining the friendship of God who will receive us in his eternal home of happiness. Justice builds a nation and prayer brings an inward transformation of every member of the society.