Skillful and Clever:
The Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 18, 2022
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Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13
Today’s readings remind us of our moral conduct in civic affairs in order that we may continue to practice our faith in freedom. Both Jesus and St. Paul instruct us on how to interact with local governments and the larger realm on God on earth. St. Paul first asks us to be grateful for civic leadership and to adopt an attitude conducive to unity and obedience. We are to pray for our leaders so we may lead a quiet life of devotion and dignity because it accepts a fundamental understanding that we are all in this effort together under one God who seeks our unity. God is pleased when we all to get along.
Jesus then instructs us to be clever, mature, and resourceful in our affairs because if we can do it in the temporal world, we can also do it in the spiritual realm. What does this parable tell us about God? First, God wants us to be in right relations with each other and to act honestly, and we know God does not like it when one of us is injured through another person’s conduct. Second, it tells us that God respects our free will, and that God wants us to make socially just choices. It also tells us that God is disappointed when we are unfair to others but accepts our choices. Third, God is pleased when we are creative and resolve our problems to everyone’s satisfaction. If we cannot live the way God intended, then we have enough ability to find new ways to solve life’s issues. If the old ways are not working, then use boldness and practicality in figuring out the best solutions.
How then can we be a maturing person in our spiritual lives? Of course, it begins with prayer, and yet if our prayer is dry, routine, and is not providing us with spiritual comfort, we must try other methodologies of prayer. The church seldom teaches people to pray, so we must be inventive about ways of praying that help us deepen our relationship with the Triune God. As Catholics, we pray to the Father/Creator, in the Spirit, through Jesus Christ.
Second, we have to educate ourselves. Reading spiritual biographies will reveal to us how other people prayed and lived according to God’s plans. Choosing how we educate ourselves is crucial for our growth. We must understand the author’s fundamental worldview and intention. Read books that will stretch your imagination so you can ponder your questions from a different angle. Read as many different perspectives as you can because it will round out your understanding. You have many questions about the faith that the church has not adequately answered for you.
Third, learn about spiritualities that are anti-ideological. If reading supports only one perspective and is advancing an agenda, you know that it is advancing an ideology. Spiritual tools like St. Ignatius’s The Spiritual Exercises are designed to be the antidote to ideologies. The goal is to discover God’s will and to live according to God’s plan, not to align oneself to a person’s personal or professional agenda. You cannot serve God and someone else’s ideology. You must choose one or the other.
In summary, be active in your spiritual life. If you continue to pray and to learn about God’s plan for you and all humankind, your spirituality will follow. You have all the resources to creatively solve conflicts, so use them well. You have so many talents, resources, and capabilities. Let’s use them well in our quest for the harmony and flourishing God seeks for us.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Proverbs 3) Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim when it is in your power to do it for him. Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once.
Tuesday: (Proverbs 21) All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes,
but it is the LORD who proves hearts. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Wednesday: (Ephesians 4) And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ.
Thursday: (Ecclesiastes 1) Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?
One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.
Friday (Ecclesiastes 3) There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.
Saturday (Ecclesiastes 11) Rejoice, O young man, while you are young and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, the vision of your eyes; Yet understand that as regards all this God will bring you to judgment.
Gospel:
Monday: (Luke 8) No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.
Tuesday: (Luke 8) The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.”
Wednesday (Matthew 9) While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Thursday (Luke 9) Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Friday (Luke 9) Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Saturday (Luke 9) While they were all amazed at his every deed, Jesus said to his disciples, “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.”
Saints of the Week
September 19: Januarius, bishop and martyr (d. 305), was bishop of Benevento during his martyrdom during the Diocletian persecution. He was arrested when he tried to visit imprisoned Christians. Legend tell us that a vial that contains his blood has been kept in the Naples cathedral since the 15th century liquefies three times a year.
September 20: Andrew Kim Taegon, priest, martyr, Paul Hasang, martyr, and companion martyrs (19th century), were Korean martyrs that began to flourish in the early 1800’s. The church leadership was almost entirely lay-run. In 1836, Parisian missionaries secretly entered the country and Christians began to encounter hostility and persecutions. Over 10,000 Christians were killed. Taegon was the first native-born priest while the rest were 101 lay Christians.
September 21: Matthew, evangelist and Apostle (first century), may be two different people, but we have not historical data on either man. Since Matthew relies heavily upon Mark’s Gospel, it is unlikely that the evangelist is one of the Twelve Apostles. The Apostle appears in a list of the Twelve and in Matthew’s Gospel he is called a tax collector. The Evangelist is writing to Jewish-Christians who are urged to embrace their Jewish heritage and to participate in their mission to the Gentiles. To Matthew, Jesus is the fulfillment of the hopes of Jews and the inaugurator of a new way to relate to God.
September 22: Tomas Sitjar, S.J. and the martyrs of Valencia (1866-1936), were killed in the Spanish Civil War just a week after the war broke out. Sitjar was the Rector of Gandia and was formerly the novice director and metaphysics professor. The Jesuit Order was suppressed at the beginning of the war, which sent the men to disperse into apartments, but since they were known to the community, they were sought out, imprisoned, and later executed because of their belief in God.
September 23: Pio of Pietrelcina, priest (1887-1968) was affectionately named Padre Pio and was a Capuchin priest who received the stigmata (wounds of Christ) just as Francis of Assisi did. He founded a hospital and became the spiritual advisor to many at a monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo.
This Week in Jesuit History
- September 18, 1540. At Rome, Pedro Ribadeneira, aged fourteen, was admitted into the Society by St Ignatius (nine days before official papal confirmation of the Society).
- September 19, 1715. At Quebec, the death of Fr. Louis Andre, who for 45 years labored in the missions of Canada amid incredible hardships, often living on acorns, a kind of moss, and the rind of fruits.
- September 20, 1990. The first-ever Congregation of Provincials met at Loyola, Spain, on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the approval of the Society and 500th anniversary of the birth of St Ignatius.
- September 21, 1557. At Salamanca, Melchior Cano wrote to Charles V's confessor, accusing the Jesuits of being heretics in disguise.
- September 22, 1774. The death of Pope Clement XIV, worn out with suffering and grief because of the suppression of the Society. False stories had been circulated that he was poisoned by the Jesuits.
- September 23, 1869. Woodstock College of the Sacred Heart opened. With 17 priests, 44 scholastics, and 16 brothers it was the largest Jesuit community in the United States at the time.
- September 24, 1566. The first Jesuits entered the continental United States at Florida. Pedro Martinez and others, while attempting to land, were driven back by the natives, and forced to make for the island of Tatacuran. He was killed there three weeks later.
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