INTRODUCTION
The 18th century french revolution will always be a remarkable event in the history of the world. And we must recall that one of the principal causes was the problem of social injustice whereby the peasants, artisans such as shoe makers, pastry cooks and daily wage workers were liable to pay taxes, from which the nobility could claim immunity, and feudal dues payable to a local seigneur or lord. Similarly, the destination of tithes which the peasants were obliged to pay to their local churches was a cause of grievance as it was known that the majority of parish priests were poor and the contribution was being made to the clergy aristocrats most of which were usually absent from service.
This was a serious case of exploitation that hit the social milieu of the prophet Amos and the reason for the mission of the prophet.
Meanwhile, the readings today remind us that we are God’s stewards and that God expects faithful and prudent stewardship from us. He has invested so much in us, and he challenges us to use our talents and wealth wisely now in order not to be found wanting at the hour of account-giving.
FIRST READING: Amos 8:4-7
During the reign of Jeroboam II, Israel reached what was probably its height in terms of economic prosperity. It was this period that saw the excesses of the wealthy aristocrats who lived in luxurious dwellings in the cities. Their selfishness gave rise to unjust distribution of the nation’s wealth and the exploitation of the poor. As they get richer daily so do they render the majority poorer.
It was in this period of high level of social injustice and inequality that the prophetic ministry of Amos was born. He was a humble shepherd and a cultivator of sycamore trees from the village of Tekoa, near Jerusalem, when the Lord called him to be a prophet: ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’ (Amos 1:1; 7:14-15).
The prophesy contained in the chapter 8 we read today was an Oracle against the rich who made their living by exploiting the poor. They knew what the New Moon and the Sabbath stood for, and they were adherents to the religion of their fathers, yet they lived in corruption.
The New Moon for the Hebrews is significantly the day when the prophets were meant to hear from Yahweh. In other words, the day designed for waiting upon the Lord for prophetic revelation and to discern his will (Ezekiel 26:1; 29:17; Haggai 1:1). It is equally a feast ( of a new beginning) whose historicity is attributed to Joseph in Egypt (Psalm 81: 3-4) for the observance of the people. On the other hand, the Sabbath is the day of abstinence from work for religious purpose. Hence, the day of the Lord. On these days, the rich merchants showed external piety and their pretentious worship. But inwardly, they could not wait to see the days over so as to re-engage in their business of exploiting the people. In other words, they resented the Sabbath rest as a loss of profits. Their crime was so high that they even sold less quantity of goods at rates far beyond what was required. Not only that; they equally used false weights for their unscrupulous advantage.The word “Ephah” used in the passage is a Hebrew name of a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 25:4; 1 Chron. 1:33). But in this context it is a way of measurement (ex. A particular measure of grain equivalent to a bushel) in which the merchants manipulated their customers. But it is interesting how Amos concludes the message. He presented an image of a God who will never let go any injustice meted upon the poor. He swore by the “pride of Jacob ” which has been interpreted by scholars to mean “by himself”, “by his holiness” (Amos 4:2). A similar title is found in the book of Samuel referring God as the ” Glory of Israel” (1 Sam. 15:29).
How beautiful it is to see the message of Amos being complemented by the responsorial Psalm visualizing God as one who vindicates the Poor:
“He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor to set them with princes, with the princes of his own people” (Ps 113: 7-8).
SECOND READING: I Timothy 2:1-8
This pastoral admonition of St. Paul was meant “for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions” (2:1-2). We can imagine the intentions of St. Paul in this letter. The immediate intention was clear; that Christians “may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.” But this first intention may not be realized if the kings and those in high positions are not at home with the Christians. Hence, Paul’s invitation to pray for the authorities. More importantly, St. Paul was indirectly fighting a course. It would be recalled that
the “deification” of the emperors was a common practice in the Roman empire earlier and during the time of the apostles. After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 27 BCE, he was in a short time proclaimed “divine” and accepted to be one of the gods of the state, and a worship of him was officially established. Later in the first century, this type of imperial cult gradually developed in the whole Roman Empire as a unifying force and a way of assuring political stability. The worship was obligatory as a way of allegiance to the emperors. No wonder history reveals that many Christians were executed because they refused to worship the divinized emperors.
However, it is in this kind of imperial milieu that the request of Paul in 1 Tim 2:2 to pray “for kings” instead of “to the kings” takes on new meaning. Let us mark the difference. Paul invites the Christian brethren “to pray for” the kings and not ” to pray to” the kings which was a common practice as I mentioned. This is St. Paul’s way of affirming that there is only one Person to pray to, which is God. Therefore, he indirectly maintained that the kings were not divine but mere mortals. Is it not interesting to hear him affirm: “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.”
The insistence on Christ as the only mediator also goes a long way to criticize the authorities that saw themselves as representatives of the divine (Maijastina Kahlos also pointed this out in his article…”Roman emperors and the divine-shift and downshift”).
Interestingly, St. Paul calls this “the testimony at the proper time.” The testimony which must be rendered in such a milieu. After all he was courageous enough to say that it was for this
he was appointed preacher and apostle.
Thus in the like of Amos, St. Paul also showed himself a prophet who confronted a problem of his time.
GOSPEL: Luke 16:1-13
Luke has this beautiful way of contrasting the personages in his parables. He will mention the supposed superior personage but then he will end up lifting the importance of the supposed inferior personage. Let’s take a look at some of these parables:
Parable of the good samaritan: reveals that the superior minded Jewish victim of bandits ended up at the mercy of “an impure race samaritan” (Lk 10:25-37).
Parable of the prodigal son: the older son (representing the Jews) who saw himself as the righteous one ended up not enjoying the privilege the “sinful but repented son” enjoyed (Lk 15:11-32).
Parable of the rich man and Lazarus: The fortunate rich man in this world would later beg from the fortunate Lazarus in the next world (Lk 16:19-31).
And in this parable of today, the manager who once controlled the accounts of his master’s debtors must now hope for the debtor’s hospitality as his position now fades away (Lk 16:3…)
This is one of the parables or teachings of Jesus that are ambiguous if a proper attention is not paid in order to grasp the message. From the external point of view one would think that Jesus actually praised the action of the corrupt steward. No, he rather praised the wisdom behind his action. Consequently, Luke points out that Christians should be as prudent and resourceful in acquiring goodness as the steward was in acquiring money and making his future safe. Earthly resources will eventually run out. Material possessions should therefore be used for the good of others. This calls for the need to give as much attention to things that concern their souls as they do to the things that concern worldly matters.
LIFE MESSAGES
1. Amos society is still our society:
That distant historical moment is part of our present history. There are various forms of exploitation and social injustices in our world today. The greediness of those entrusted with public responsibilities has deprived millions of persons in our world the source of livelihood. More than in other parts of the world, the greediness and selfishness of many African leaders is the problem of poverty in Africa. God blessed Africa with many resources, but evidently they are meant for the few.
Likewise many of us Christians participate directly or indirectly in social injustices and corruption. The voice of Amos echoes anew today. It is the voice of the God of the poor and vulnerable.
a) Who am I oppressing?
b) Who is crying under my feet that I have refused to lift up?
c) Do I pay attention to my dealings with people to see if any is suffering secretly because of me?
d) Is that fellow working under me receiving what is due for him/her?
e) Am I also aware that my greed and excess pursuit of gain in my business is a source of poverty for the other?
2. Invest in others:
To be true stewards pleasing to God, we must use the resources he gave us at the service of others. The right use of wealth, according to Jesus in this Gospel is to help the poor, the hungry, and the starving. This is the perfect way to make friends with God. We must avoid gathering everything for ourselves. Even the corrupt steward knew how to be generous.
3. We must say no to superior mentality:
We are members of human society, and some of us who are able and privileged think that we deserve the society’s benefits more than our brothers and sisters who are less able and less privileged.
Do we really take time to reflect on such superior mentality? How does the gospel speak to our consciences that nothing is constant, and that we can be stewards today and tomorrow we are at the mercy of the master’s debtors. If we find ourselves in a particular position of authority, it is not purely by merit, but a privilege by God because we can never be the best of human beings. Hence the need to be humble.
4. The Church and the challenge of stewardship:
Does our Church still cling to the old glory which has long gone, refusing to see her present crises calling for change?
We have always lived with the mentality that we are the superior Church, but we see that day in day out, we are squandering the master’s glory given to our stewardship. Have we paused to ask ourselves whether we are still “One”, “Holy”, “Catholic”, and “Apostolic” in the original sense of the terms? This is quite provocative from me. Yes. But it is a call to think about our faith today as a Church. Do we still belong to that witnessing Church, ready to give herself entirely to her Spouse (Christ)? Do we live out the authentic faith we profess in the credo? Don’t we think that the crises the Church is facing today is diminishing her glory? We must know this: whenever we are not living true witnessing be it in public or in secret, we are diminishing the glory of the Church and squandering the master’s treasure. Like the steward whose responsibility was taken away, the Lord is no longer comfortable with the way we are managing the faith he entrusted to us? It seems that the kingdom of God is losing its hold on earth because of our unfaithfulness to the master.
All of us are members of the Church, and we’ve all got the responsibility to build the kingdom of God. Have we squandered the “resources” God has given to us or are we still good stewards?
One day we will all be called to give account of our stewardship from the top to the least.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, we know that in conscience we have not always been good to you and to our brothers and sisters. But since it has pleased you to remind us through your word today that we must be truthful and sincere in our stewardship, help us then to renew our commitment to you today through a humble service to others with our “wealth” and with our lives till we reach our eternal homeland with you as good stewards. Amen.
