This Sunday, the Nineteenth Sunday of
Ordinary Time of Year C, we are still in Chapter 12 of Luke’s Gospel where
Jesus, the apostles, and the multitude are walking toward Jerusalem. Jesus continues His sermon on the treasure of
your heart. There are four things to
meditate on in Christ’s sermon: the treasure of God’s kingdom, the faith
required to obtain it, the preparation required as a result of faith, and the
responsibility that comes with the gift of faith.
Jesus said to his
disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little
flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings
and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves
that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can
reach nor moth destroy.
For where your
treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“Gird your loins and light your
lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready
to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants whom the
master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird
himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or
third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this: if the master of
the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let
his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an
hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable
meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and
prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to
distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his
master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will
put the servant in charge of all his property.
But if that servant
says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and
begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get
drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an
unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with
the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s
will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be
beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but
acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person
entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted
with more.”
~Lk 12:32-48
Again this week I go
to Fr. Tim Peters who walks us through this difficult passage with great skill.
It is of paramount importance to set the treasure of your heart on the proper things. That is the big take-a-way.
For the pastoral
homily I turn to Fr. Peter Hahn from a homily he gave eleven years ago. The details may be dated, but the message is
universal.
So are you comforted
or afflicted by today’s Gospel?
Sunday Meditation: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Let us enjoy John Michael Talbot’s “Lilies of
the Field.”
So seek ye first the kingdom of God
And the wealth of His righteousness
For wherever your treasure lies
There will you find your heart
That is so lovely.
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