NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2025)
Readings:
Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalms 33:1, 12, 18-22
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Luke 12:32-48 (12:35-40 short form)
The first reading from the Book of Wisdom is a good reminder from whence our religion and faith evolved. The Old (nothing pejorative ever intended) or First Testament is not just a prelude to the New (never meant to be superior) Testament, but it is an accounting of the acts of our ancestors, an account that supported our beliefs about Jesus, and an account that Jesus was schooled in and which He plumbed for His most salient teachings. The ups and downs, the faults and foibles of our ancestors in the faith are never glossed over or omitted. The first reading evokes the Passover, a celebration which reveals God’s identity. God is the just and merciful One who releases our ancestors – and us – from enslavement (from the Egyptians). God sustains journeying through the wilderness, and enables crossing over into the Promised Land. In the words of Deuteronomy (10:17-18), “God has no favorites, accepts no bribes, executes justice for the orphan and widow, and befriends the alien (read, ‘immigrant’).” Although “mighty and awesome,” God chooses to enter into a covenant relationship with humankind in all our brokenness. The sufferings and challenges meted out to the Israelites are well known to us, but for some, both Old and New Testament writers, one figure stands head and shoulders above the countless others, and that is the person of Abraham, a person with whom God enters into an intimate covenant.
As our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews points out, the early Jewish Christians are reminded of Abraham’s extraordinary faith. Notice the number of times the author of Hebrews uses the expression “by faith”: “by faith Abraham obeyed…;” “by faith he sojourned in the promised land…;” “by faith he received power to generate (have a child in spite of his age)…;” “by faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac.” Our faith is a Judaeo-Christian faith, and while our focus is rightly on Jesus, Jesus and His first Jewish disciples saw in Abraham an example of great faith, a person to be admired and emulated.
In our gospel for today, as if one parable was not enough, the author of Luke’s gospel has Jesus using three parables to make His point: the parable of the master who returns from his wedding (12:36-38), the parable of the thief who forces his way into the house (12:39), and the parable of the faithful and prudent steward (12:42-48). Today’s Gospel is about prioritizing, preparing, and responding in discipleship. The Kingdom of God breaks into our petty and distracted world in ways we least expect, and we are meant to “open immediately when [Jesus] comes and knocks.” No thief, or person with bad intentions can disturb our vigilance. As Jesus says: “You must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” We are meant to be like “faithful stewards,” who “distribute the food allowance at the proper time.” As servants, we will be “put in charge of all the Master’s property,” if we act in the way that Jesus has taught us. The last line of the gospel places a rather heavy burden on us: “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
“I can’t do any more,” we would like to tell the Master. There are times we would like to tell the Master when He knocks, “at this time, I’m pretty busy,” I have other things to do besides welcoming you or keeping the “thief” out of the house. I am too busy “beating the menservants and the maidservants” (immigrants, perhaps?), or I am “eating and getting drunk,” it’s not a good time! What Jesus tells His disciples in today’s gospel is there is never a bad time for God to break into our world and reveal the gospel in all its beauty. Indeed, Jesus’ gospel is capable of enlightening even the darkest parts of our world, the darkest part of our lives. Being awake and vigilant, being attuned to what Jesus has taught us can uplift the troubled world we live in, and raise all of us closer to God’s heavenly kingdom, where all of us are headed, as long as we have the faith of Abraham, as long as we are awake and vigilant.
parishionersforjustice.com 