HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Twenty Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C)

Sep 22, 2013

2871

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First Reading

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Amos (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!

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8)

(R) Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord both now and forever. (R)

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)

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)

Second Reading

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (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 measures 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."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

There is a story of an old man looking back on his life. One day he sits with his friends in a tea shop telling his story. He says, "When I was young I was fiery. I wanted to awaken everyone. So, I prayed to God to give me the strength to change the world. In mid-life, I awoke one day and realized my life was half over and I had changed no one. So, I prayed to God to give me the strength to change those close around me and who so much needed it. Alas, now I am old and realize I haven't seen much change in people around me. Therefore, my prayer now is simpler. I ask God to give me the strength to at least change myself."

We hear a similar instruction from Saint Paul in today's second reading. Last week we read and reflected on Saint Paul's encouraging words to Timothy who has difficulties in dealing with problems in his Christian community at Ephesus. In his letter Paul admits his shameful past sin against Jesus Christ and his followers and, regards his conversion to the Christian faith as a great testimony of God's mercy and love for sinners. Because he believes that, first and foremost, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

In today's text Paul instructs Timothy and others on worship. Since prayer is very important in worship, Paul tells them what to pray, for whom to pray, why to pray and how to pray. First of all he divides prayer into four types - supplications/requests, petitions, thanksgivings and prayers. Prayer is the general term. He calls on them to pray for everyone for he believes no person on earth is unaffected by prayer. In his letter he specifically asks them to pray for "kings and for all in authority". At the time of Paul, Nero was the Roman emperor who did not believe in one God but many gods. Paul, who as a Jew, prayed only for Israel before he converted to the Christian faith. He now asks the believers to pray for the emperor and many others who are in power and authority. Certainly they would ask why they have to pray for someone who does not believe in their God. So he gives them three reasons for doing so:

They must pray for them so that all people may "lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity".
They must pray for them for it is a good and right thing to do. Prayer pleases God who wants to redeem all people.
They must pray for them because Jesus Christ is the perfect Mediator between God and the human race. He "gave himself as a ransom for all" so that they can pray for the salvation of all.

Paul then talks about two essential conditions for prayer. The first condition is that they must pray with holy hands lifted up. Praying with arms extended and raised was a Jewish practice. "Lifting up hands" in prayer is a humble expectation of receiving something from God. Moreover, Paul says that they must pray "lifting up holy hands". What he means is that they must stand before God with clean hands, blameless and holy. Second, he asks them to pray "without anger or argument". In other words, while praying they should have no anger or animosity towards others for whom they pray.

What do we learn from the instruction of Paul for our own faith life?

We must immerse ourselves in the practice of prayer. In the Acts of the Apostles (2:42) we read how early Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" and in Acts of the Apostles (4:31) how as they experienced the "place being shaken, was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly". After praying, have you ever witnessed the place shaking? And have you been filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God courageously? Certainly, not all of us have had such an experience. The reason for this is because prayer is losing its importance in our worship. Often our prayers are well prepared and said by someone else. They are routine and repetitious. They are so vague and general that they become meaningless. Sometimes we may be praying simply to be seen and heard by others or to fulfill a religious duty. Friends, let us actively participate in prayers; observe and meditate on every word in prayer to feel its power.
We can use any type of prayer to pray. Friends, the Holy Eucharist is the most important and highest form of prayer. I, as a presiding priest, truly try to make myself worthy to offer the Holy Eucharist and to make it holy and acceptable to the Lord. I do it on behalf of all of us. I believe most of our priests do the same. However, I invite all of you to prepare yourselves to receive the grace of Christ in the Holy Eucharist worthily. In the Holy Mass we can pray for mercy, deliverance, salvation and peace through the Kyrie (Lord, Have Mercy); give thanks to the Lord for His forgiveness through the Gloria; praise the Lord with the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) and the doxology; intercede for others' petitions through the general intercessory prayers etc. We can give thanks for the many blessings especially for who and what God is and who out of His love and mercy grants us grace.
Let us pray for everyone. Of course, we cannot pray for everybody in the world by name, but we certainly ought to pray for those we know and know about. We must pray for those who govern us even when we disagree with them or even if they do not believe in our God. We must pray for people near us and those far away, for enemies as well as friends, good and bad, Christians and non-Christians. For all people need the grace and truth the gospel of Jesus can bring.
As we pray it is important that we are inwardly and outwardly right with God. Whether we stand or sit or kneel or lift our hands or bow our head, let us pray with love, reverence and devotion. Let us repent for our sins before we pray for our needs and expect God to answer. Let us avoid praying to God while in anger and filled with hatred for others. As Jesus tells us we must reconcile with others before we make our offering to Him. A person who has no peace within himself cannot pray and get answers from God. Blessed Mother Teresa once observed, "God rarely is found in the midst of noise and restlessness; instead, He is the friend of silence."
Let us remember that we pray not so much that the world might be changed, but so that we might be changed. Let us pray not so much that God will do our will, but so that his will may be done, and that it may be done at least in part, in us and through us.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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