Lectionary: 135
Il-Ħamsa u Għoxrin Ħadd taż-Żmien 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 1 mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Għamos 8:4-7
Il-Mulej
qalli: “Isimgħu dan, intom li tikkalpestaw l-imsejken, intom li ttemmu
l-foqra tal-pajjiż, u tgħidu: ‘Meta se jgħaddi l-qamar ħa nbigħu
l-qamħ? Meta se jgħaddi s-Sibt ħa nferrgħu x-xgħir, inċekknu l-efa, u
nkabbru x-xekel, u nqarrqu b’miżien falz, nixtru bil-flus il-foqra, u
b’żewġt iqrieq l-imsejken? Inbigħu sal-karfa tal-qamħ’”. Il-Mulej ħalef
bil-foħrija ta’ Ġakobb: “Ma ninsa qatt xejn minn għemilhom!”. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej.
Responsorial Psalm PSALM 113:1-2, 4-6, 7-8
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): Faħħru lill-Mulej, li jerfa’ l-fqir.
Faħħru, qaddejja tal-Mulej,
faħħru isem il-Mulej.
Ikun isem il-Mulej imbierek,
minn issa u għal dejjem! R/.
Għoli fuq il-ġnus kollha l-Mulej,
ogħla mis-smewwiet hu sebħu.
Min hu bħall-Mulej, Alla tagħna,
li qiegħed fl-għoli,
u li jħares ’l isfel,
lejn is-smewwiet u lejn l-art? R/.
Hu li jqajjem mit-trab l-imsejken,
u jerfa’ mill-miżbla l-fqajjar,
biex mal-kbarat iqiegħdu,
mal-kbarat tal-poplu tiegħu. 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, the man Christ Jesus, 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 2 mill-Ewwel Ittra ta’ San Pawl lil Timotju 2:1-8
Għażiż,
nitolbok l-ewwel nett li jsiru suppliki, orazzjonijiet, talb u radd
il-ħajr għall-bnedmin kollha; għas-slaten, għal dawk kollha li għandhom
xi awtorità, biex inkunu nistgħu ngħaddu ħajja fil-kwiet u fis-sliem,
fit-tjieba u kif jixraq. Dan hu tajjeb u jogħġob lil Alla s-Salvatur
tagħna, li jrid li l-bnedmin kollha jsalvaw u jaslu biex jagħrfu
l-verità. Għax wieħed hu Alla, u wieħed hu l-medjatur bejn Alla u
l-bniedem, il-Bniedem Kristu Ġesù, li ta lilu nnifsu bħala prezz
tal-fidwa għal kulħadd; u x-xhieda ta’ dan ngħatat f’waqtha. Hu għal dan
li jien kont magħmul xandâr u appostlu – qiegħed ngħid is-sewwa,
m’iniex nigdeb – biex ngħallem lill-ġnus il-fidi u l-verità. Nixtieq li
l-irġiel jitolbu kullimkien, jerfgħu ’l fuq idejn safja bla għadab u bla
ġlied. 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 replied, '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."
Evanġelju Luqa 16:1-13
F’dak iż-żmien, Ġesù qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu: “Kien hemm raġel għani li kellu amministratur, u lil dan xlewh lil sidu li kien qiegħed iberbaqlu ġidu. Għalhekk is-sid sejjaħlu u qallu: ‘Dan x’inhu li qiegħed nisma’ fuqek? Agħtini kont tal-amministrazzjoni tiegħek, għax ma tistax tibqa’ iżjed amministratur tiegħi’. L-amministratur bejnu u bejn ruħu qal: ‘Issa x’sejjer nagħmel, ladarba sidi se jneħħini mill-amministrazzjoni? Immur nagħżaq? Ma niflaħx. Nittallab? Nistħi. Naf x’nagħmel, ħalli meta nitwarrab minn fuq din l-amministrazzjoni, insib lil ħaddieħor li jilqagħni għandu’. U wieħed wieħed bagħat għal dawk li kellhom jagħtu lil sidu. ‘Kemm għandek tagħtih lil sidi?’, staqsa lill-ewwel wieħed. ‘Mitt barmil żejt’, wieġbu dak. Qallu l-amministratur: ‘Oħroġ il-karti tiegħek, oqgħod bilqiegħda malajr u ikteb ħamsin’. Lil ieħor staqsieh: ‘U int, kemm għandek tagħti?’. ‘Mitt xkora qamħ’, wieġbu. Qallu: ‘Oħroġ il-karti tiegħek u ikteb tmenin’. U s-sid faħħru lil dak l-amministratur ħażin talli ħadem b’rasu. Għax ulied din id-dinja jimxu bil-għaqal aktar minn ulied id-dawl ma’ min hu tal-qatgħa tagħhom. U jiena ngħidilkom: agħmlu għalikom infuskom ħbieb ta’ qligħ il-ħżunija, ħalli meta jonqoskom, jilqgħukom fl-għerejjex ta’ dejjem. Min hu fidil f’ħaġa tassew żgħira, hu fidil ukoll fil-ħafna; min hu diżonest f’ħaġa tassew żgħira, hu diżonest ukoll fil-ħafna. Jekk mela ma wrejtux ruħkom fidili fil-qligħ il-ħażin, min se jafdalkom il-ġid veru? U jekk ma wrejtux ruħkom fidili f’dak li hu ta’ ħaddieħor, min se jagħtikom dak li hu tagħkom? Ebda qaddej ma jista’ jaqdi żewġ sidien, għax jew ikun jobgħod lil wieħed minnhom u jħobb lill-ieħor, jew jintrabat ma’ wieħed u jistmell lill-ieħor. Ma tistgħux taqdu lil Alla u lill-flus”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
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Eight-minute Gospel reflection by Fr Antony Kadavil
God expects faithful and prudent stewardship from us
Introduction:
This Sunday’s readings remind us that we are God’s stewards, and that God expects faithful and prudent stewardship from us. They challenge us to use our God-given talents and blessings, like wealth, wisely to attain Heavenly bliss.
Scripture lessons summarized:
In the first reading, Amos, the prophet of social justice, condemns the crooked business practices of the 8th century BC Jewish merchants of Judea and reminds the Israelites and us to be faithful to our Covenant with Yahweh, God of Justice. We need to practice justice and mercy to all, as God’s faithful stewards. Amos warns us also against setting making money by any means as the goal of our life.
Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 113) reminds us that the All-seeing God protects and cares for the poor. In the second reading, St. Paul instructs the first century Judeo-Christians to become true stewards of the Gospel of Jesus, the only mediator, by preaching the “Good News” to the pagans and by including them in intercessory prayers, too.
Today’s Gospel story tells us about the crooked, but resourceful, manager and challenges us to use our blessings — time, talents, health and wealth – wisely and justly so that they will serve us for our good in eternity. We use our earthly wealth wisely when we spend it for our own needs in moderation and when we love and help the needy around us, because these are the purposes for which God has entrusted His blessings to us.
Life messages:
1) We need to be faithful in the little things of life: Let us remember Saint John Chrysostom’s warning, “Faithfulness in little things is a big thing,” and the reminder of St. Theresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa, canonized September 4, 2016 by Pope Francis), “Do little things with great love.” Hence, let us not ignore doing little things, like acknowledging a favor with a sincere “thank you,” congratulating others for their success, sharing in their sorrows and/or offering them help and support in their needs.
2) We need to use our spiritual resources wisely. The manager in Jesus’ story used all his resources to secure his future. We must be no less resourceful. We have at our disposal the Holy Mass and the Seven Sacraments as sources of Divine grace, the Holy Bible as the word of God for daily meditation and practice, and the teaching authority of the Spirit-guided Church to direct us in our Christian life. We need to use these resources in such a way that it will be said of us, “And the master commended them because they acted so prudently.”
3) We need to be prepared to give an account of our stewardship. We insure our houses against fire, storms, flood, and thieves, just as we insure our lives, buying life insurance, health insurance, and car insurance. In the same way, let us “insure” ourselves (with God, not Prudential!) for the one thing that most certainly will happen, namely, our meeting God to give Him an account of our lives. What really matters, at that time of our Private Judgment by God at the moment of our death is how wisely we have used our blessings during our life, lovingly and generously sharing them with others in need.
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