Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 18th September, 2022

Gospel: Luke     16:10-13
Jesus said to his disciples,
“The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’

Donal Neary S.J.
Gospel reflections for Year C: Luke
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On the side of the poor (first reading)

Isn't it still the same as the first reading has it? The poor get the worst of things, and are diddled; it's quite contemporary. It is about greed and fooling the poor; raising the shekel - like raising the exchange rate so that the poorer countries get less dollars for their kwacha and rupees; golden handshakes for people whose greed is palpable and whose attitudes have left so many people hard up; money well protected and taxes avoided if not evaded. Our waste of food could feed so many. People are poor not through their own fault but because they are neglected.

How many of the poorer schools are becoming less well off, with resources such as special needs assistants taken away. Hospital care is getting worse, as people wait for prolonged periods for treatment. Mostly the poor will first suffer from economic mishap. God hates this - he hates mistreatment of his people. Jesus raged against the exploitation of the poor.

We pay tribute to the people who work for the poor and needy - in the parish; in diocesan and other social agencies, and our volunteers at home and abroad. Can we vote for public representatives who care for the poor?

The call to the Church is to care as Jesus cared; we need the harsh words of the first reading sometimes to waken us up, and the story of Jesus to make sure we don't sleep again.

Pope Francis said:
'if investments in banks drop a little,
it's a tragedy!
But if people are starving, if they have nothing to eat, if they are not healthy,
it does not matter!
This is our crisis today,
Lord, may your kingdom come.