Twenty-fifth
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary:
135
L-Hamsa
u Ghoxrin Hadd taz-Zmien ta’ Matul is-Sena
Reading
1 Amos 8:4-7
Hear this,
you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! "When will the new moon be over,"
you ask, "that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display
the wheat? We will diminish the ephah,
add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly for
silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we
will sell!" The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done!
Qari
I mill-Ktieb tal-Profet Ghamos 8, 4-7
Il-Mulej
qalli: “Isimghu dan, intom li tikkalpestaw l-imsejken intom li ttemmu l-foqra
tal-pajjiz, u tghidu: “Meta se jghaddi l-qamar gdid, ha nbighu l-qamh? Meta se
jghaddi s-Sibt ha nferrghu x-xghir, incekknu l-efa, u nkabbru x-xekel, u
nqarrqu b’mizien falz, nixtru bil-flus il-foqra, u b’zewgt iqrieq l-imsejken?
Inbighu sal-karfa tal-qamh”.“ Il-Mulej halef bil-fohrija ta’ Gakobb: “Ma ninsa
qatt xejn minn ghemilhom!” Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial
Psalm Ps 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8
R. (cf.
1a, 7b) Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.
Praise,
you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be
the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. Praise the
Lord who lifts up the poor.
High above
all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
Who is
like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens and the earth
below?
R. Praise
the Lord who lifts up the poor.
He raises
up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
to seat
them with princes,
with the princes of his own people.
R. Praise
the Lord who lifts up the poor.
Salm
Responsorjali Salm 112 (113),
1-2.4-6.7-8
R/. (ara
1a u 7b): Fahhru lill-Mulej, li jerfa’ l-fqir
Fahhru,
qaddejja tal-Mulej,
fahhru
isem il-Mulej.
Ikun isem
il-Mulej imbierek,
minn issa
u ghal dejjem! R/.
Gholi fuq
il-gnus kollha l-Mulej,
oghla
mis-smewwiet hu sebhu.
Min hu
bhall-Mulej, Alla taghna,
li qieghed
fl-gholi,
u li
jhares ’l isfel,
lejn
is-smewwiet u lejn l-art? R/.
Hu li
jqajjem mit-trab l-imsejken,
u jerfa’
mill-mizbla l-fqajjar,
biex
mal-kbarat iqieghdu,
mal-kbarat
tal-poplu tieghu. R/.
Reading
2 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Beloved:
First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings
be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a
quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing
to God our saviour, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of
the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and
men, who gave himself as ransom for all. This was the testimony at the proper
time. For this I was appointed preacher and apostle — I am speaking the truth,
I am not lying —, teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. It is my wish,
then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without
anger or argument.
Qari
II mill-Ewwel Ittra lil Timotju 2,
1-8
Ghaziz,
nitolbok l-ewwel nett li jsiru suppliki, orazzjonijiet, talb u radd il-hajr
ghall-bnedmin kollha; ghas-slaten, ghal dawk kollha li ghandhom xi awtorità,
biex inkunu nistghu nghaddu hajja fil-kwiet u fis-sliem, fit-tjieba u kif
jixraq. Dan hu tajjeb u joghgob lil Alla s-Salvatur taghna, li jrid li
l-bnedmin kollha jsalvaw u jaslu biex jaghrfu l-verità. Ghax wiehed hu Alla, u
wiehed hu l-medjatur bejn Alla u l-bniedem, il-Bniedem Kristu Gesù, li ta lilu
nnifsu bhala prezz tal-fidwa ghal kulhadd; u x-xhieda ta’ dan nghatat f’waqtha.
Hu ghal dan li jien kont maghmul xandâr u appostlu – qieghed nghid is-sewwa,
m’iniex nigdeb – biex nghallem lill-gnus il-fidi u l-verità. Nixtieq li
l-irgiel jitolbu kullimkien, jerfghu ’l fuq idejn safja bla ghadab u bla glied.
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel Luke 16:1-13
Jesus said
to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for
squandering his property. He summoned him and said, 'What is this I hear about
you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship,because you can no longer be my
steward.' The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, now that my master is
taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and
I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the
stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.' He called in his master's
debtors one by one. To the first he said, 'How much do you owe my master?' He
re plied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.'He said to him, 'Here is your
promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.'Then to another the
steward said, 'And you, how much do you owe?' He replied, 'One hundred kors of
wheat.' The steward said to him, 'Here is your promissory note; write one for
eighty.' And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. "For
the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own
generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for
yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed
into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is
also trustworthy in great ones; and the
person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust
you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will
either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon."
Evangelju Qari skont San Luqa 16, 1-13
F’dak
iz-zmien, Gesù qal lid-dixxipli tieghu: “Kien hemm ragel ghani li kellu
amministratur, u lil dan xlewh lil sidu li kien qieghed iberbaqlu gidu.
Ghalhekk is-sid sejjahlu u qallu: “Dan x’inhu li qieghed nisma’ fuqek? Aghtini
kont tal-amministrazzjoni tieghek, ghax ma tistax tibqa’ izjed amministratur
tieghi”. L-amministratur bejnu u bejn ruhu qal: “Issa x’sejjer naghmel, ladarba
sidi se jnehhini mill-amministrazzjoni? Immur naghzaq? Ma niflahx. Nittallab?
Nisthi. Naf x’naghmel, halli meta nitwarrab minn fuq din l-amministrazzjoni,
insib lil haddiehor li jilqaghni ghandu”. U wiehed wiehed baghat ghal dawk li
kellhom jaghtu lil sidu. “Kemm ghandek taghtih lil sidi?” staqsa lill-ewwel
wiehed. “Mitt barmil zejt”, wiegbu dak. Qallu l-amministratur: “Ohrog il-karti
tieghek, oqghod bilqieghda malajr u ikteb hamsin”. Lil iehor staqsieh: “U int,
kemm ghandek taghti?” “Mitt xkora qamh”, wiegbu. Qallu: “Ohrog il-karti tieghek
u ikteb tmenin”. U s-sid fahhru lil dak l-amministratur hazin talli hadem
b’rasu. Ghax ulied din id-dinja jimxu bil-ghaqal aktar minn ulied id-dawl ma’
min hu tal-qatgha taghhom. U jiena nghidilkom: aghmlu ghalikom infuskom hbieb
ta’ qligh il-hzunija, halli meta jonqoskom, jilqghukom fl-gherejjex ta’ dejjem.
Min hu fidil f’haga tassew zghira, hu fidil ukoll fil-hafna; min hu dizonest
f’haga tassew zghira, hu dizonest ukoll fil-hafna. Jekk mela ma wrejtux ruhkom
fidili fil-qligh il-hazin, min se jafdalkom il-gid veru? U jekk ma wrejtux
ruhkom fidili f’dak li hu ta’ haddiehor, min se jaghtikom dak li hu taghkom?
Ebda qaddej ma jista’ jaqdi zewg sidien, ghax jew ikun jobghod lil wiehed
minnhom u jhobb lill-iehor, jew jintrabat ma’ wiehed u jistmell lill-iehor. Ma
tistghux taqdu lil Alla u lill-flus”.Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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Father
Cantalamessa on Dishonest Wealth
Here is a
translation of a commentary by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin
Father Raniero Cantalamessa, on the readings from this Sunday’s liturgy.
*
* *
Make
friends with wealth
This
Sunday’s Gospel presents us with a parable that in certain respects has
important contemporary relevance: the parable of the dishonest steward. The
central character of the parable is the farm manager of a landowner, a
well-known figure in our Italian countryside when the sharecropping system was
still in existence.
Like all
good parables, this one is like a miniature play, full of movement and scene
changes. The actors in the first scene are the steward and the master and the
scene ends with the master firing the steward: “You can no longer be my
steward.”
The
steward does not even try to defend himself. His conscience is not clear. He
knows that he is guilty of what the master has discovered.
The second
scene is a soliloquy of the steward, who is now alone. He has not yet accepted
defeat. He immediately thinks about what he can do to get himself out of this
situation and save his future.
The third
scene — steward and tenant farmers — reveals to us the plan that the steward
has devised. He asks the tenants, “And how much do you owe?”
“One
hundred measures of wheat,” is one reply.
“Here is your
promissory note,” he says. “Take it and write down eighty.” A classic case of
corruption and falsehood that makes us think of similar situations in our own
society, often on a much larger scale.
The
conclusion is disconcerting: “The master praised the dishonest steward for
acting prudently.”
Is Jesus
approving and encouraging corruption? We need to recall to our minds the
particular nature of teaching in parables. The moral doctrine that is aimed at
is not in the parable taken as a whole, in every detail, but only in that
aspect of the parable that the narrator wishes to pick out.
And the
idea that Jesus intended to bring out with this parable is clear. The master
praises the steward for his resourcefulness and for nothing else. It is not
said that the master changed his mind about his decision to fire the man.
Indeed,
given the initial conduct of the master and the quickness with which he
discovers the new scam we can easily imagine the outcome, which the parable
does not report. After having praised the steward for his astuteness, the
master orders him to immediately restore the fruit of his dishonest
transactions or pay it off in prison if he lacks the means.
It is
cleverness that Jesus also praises, outside the parable. In fact, he adds: “The
children of this world are more clever in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.”
That man,
when he was faced with an emergency situation in which his whole future was at
stake, showed a capacity for radical decision-making and great resourcefulness.
He acted quickly and intelligently — even if dishonestly — to save himself.
This, Jesus observes to his disciples, is what you too must do, to save
yourselves, not for a worldly future but for an eternal future.
“Life,”
Seneca said, “is not given to anyone as a possession but as something that we
are stewards of.” We are all “stewards,” so we have to act like the man in the
parable. He did not put things off until tomorrow; he did not “sleep on it.”
There is something too important at stake to be left to chance.
The Gospel
itself makes different practical applications of this teaching of Christ. The
one that it insists the most on is the one regarding the use of wealth and
money: “I tell you, make friends with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails,
you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
In other
words, do as that steward did; make friends with those who, when one day you
find yourself in trouble, will welcome you. These friends, we know, are the
poor.
We know
this from what Christ says about his being the recipient of what we do for
them. The poor, St. Augustine said, are, so to speak, our couriers and porters:
They allow us to begin transferring our belongings now to the house that is
being built for us in the hereafter.
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