• 25th (C), September 23, 2007
• Theme: God offers us Security; so we can exercise discipleship freely

• Introduction:
• Very few passages offer the challenges of interpretation as does the Gospel passage we just heard from the 16th Chapter of Luke’s Gospel.
• Even more difficult for me - I always smile when I read the parable of the Unjust Steward:
• Ordination announcement of a Jesuit priest - sent to only selected individuals:
• “To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed; therefore, ordained a Priest”… such and such a date.
• That Jesuit later became the Provincial of the California Province.

• Luke 16, the story of the Unjust Steward, is difficult to interpret:
• Is the steward stealing from the Master when he lowers the invoices of the clients, or is he simply forgoing the commission to which he is actually entitled?
• If the steward had been mismanaging the Master’s property and stealing from him, how come the Master did not have the steward imprisoned instead of just firing him?
• Or, how come the Master did not fire the steward immediately instead of giving him time to deal with the clients?
• Why does the Master compliment the steward for acting shrewdly?

• I do not have the answers to all of these questions, but one point is clear from all three readings that we have heard today:
• We who profess to be Christians are challenged to make a CHOICE.
• We are challenged to DECIDE.
• IN WHAT DO WE TRUST?
• WHERE IS OUR SECURITY?

• On the currency of our country, we read: IN GOD WE TRUST
• In fact, do we trust in God or do we trust in the Currency to provide our ultimate security?
• In the Gospel, Jesus asks us to decide, because we cannot serve two masters.
• Tough questions in the world and in the culture in which we live

• We as individuals and we as a church community have to pay our bills,
• There is no way around it.
• If you do not pay your electric bill at home or if we do not pay our electric bill here at the church - The Power Company will turn off the lights
• At times, it not easy to make ends meet for us as individuals and for us as a church community.

• However, the challenge of today’s reading for you and for me is the question:
• Ultimately, do I find my security in God and in the values that we profess as Christians,
• Or do I find my security in focusing only on the material possession I can amass?

• We are not always clear about how we are going to respond to this challenge of the Gospel,
• Yet, from time to time the light does shine through for us, and we see examples of generous people:
• Lawyers have argued cases for those who couldn’t afford to pay them.
• A friend struggling to make a living, yet willing to take on the case of woman who is about to be evicted from her home
• Teachers who donate after-school hours to kids who need a hand to catch up.
• It happens at Blessed Sacrament School all the time.

• As we ponder today’s parable, the first reading from the prophet Amos reinforces its message.
• Amos criticizes those who make profits off the backs of the poor.
• I could not help but think of the articles written in the newspaper this week commenting on the luxuries we enjoy at the expense of low-wage employees in countries like China.
• Luke and Amos, like the other biblical writers, show God’s preference for the poor.
• Ultimately, in what do I place me security?

• Let us continue the Mass calling on the Lord for Wisdom
• Let us continue our lives thanking God for his grace and love
• Let us continue to follow the Lord truly believing that it is “In God We Trust.”

• Amen

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