What life are we planning to secure?  

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Gerard Majella Church

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Prophet Amos was the third among the twelve Old Testament prophets. He was a shepherd and a Sycamore trees tender. He spent the greater part of his life in the rural area. Before he came to the city of Samaria, he had never been exposed to a luxurious standard of living and comfort and that of great wealth. So, when he came in contact with the city luxurious life, he quickly realized that something was wrong with God’s people. The prophecy of Amos happened during the period of great wealth and prosperity in Israel. But despite the bumper harvest and buoyant economic situation of Israel, it was indeed a rotten and sick nation. Social oppression based on class inequalities was at its peak. The poor were victimized by the rich. Religion was in serious decay and ruin, and this was the root cause of these social crimes. The worship of God was no longer practiced in the pure form and was in danger of deteriorating into paganism. The oppression of the poor was against the commandment of God of Israel. So, Prophet Amos condemned these social injustices as the antithesis of the covenant spirit. Israel’s covenant with God allowed no class distinction; the brotherhood and the sisterhood of Israelites was the norm. 

In today’s first reading taking from Amos 8:4-7, he warned those “who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land” that the Lord has sworn “Never will I forget a thing they have done.” Amos was shocked to see that materialism had become the order of the day in Israel. Wealth was considered the greatest thing in life, and only people with money were seen to be important. The rights of the poor were not defended in the courts, and many judges and officials took bribes. Any poor farmer who borrows money and could not pay on time looses his farmland and most times is forced to cultivate it for the new owner. During harvest time, the rich lender reaps the best from the land leaving the remnant for the poor borrower. This attitude opened the way for land-grabbing. Injustice and many other social crimes were high in Israel. Even the smallest bribe- a pair of shoes is enough to secure a verdict against a poor man. Now because the nation was very prosperous, there was optimism everywhere in the minds of the people. Only few people like Prophet Amos could see that behind the prosperity that the nation is morally and spiritually sick. Amos wanted more justice in the land. The presence of injustice in the land is a prove that they were not living as God’s people.

The world has changed considerably since then, but in many ways, human nature has remained the same. Despite all the scientific and technological development and advancement, humanity has remain virtually the same. Greed still rules! The poor are still oppressed! The rich still get richer! There is still a great injustice in the world. But those who perpetrate and perpetuate injustice should consider the warning of Prophet Amos: That God will not forget their wickedness. If they escape human punishment, they will surely not escape divine recompense. 

In today’s gospel taken from Luke 16:1-13, Jesus speaks of the need to be clever in planning for a secure future for ourselves, and it is not just for the few years we spend on earth that we have to plan for, but also for our time in eternity. When the servant in today’s gospel realized that in few days or weeks, he would be out of work, he used earthly astuteness to plan for his future. He was accused by his master for financial misappropriation and was given few days to prepare a full report of his stewardship. He knew he would be sacked. So, he decided to reach out to his master’s customers and had them reduce the amount of money and goods they were owing his master. His master did praise him for his cleverness. Now, Jesus wasn’t promoting dishonesty and stealing here. Whether the steward was stealing from his rich master or not isn’t the main point in this gospel. Whether reducing the various debt that various people owned his master was honest or dishonest is not the main point of this parable either. The chief point of his gospel is that the steward was clever and wasted no time in planning for a secure future for himself. Have we started planning for life after life? What life are we planning to secure? What future are we planning to secure? Is it this earthly life alone? As we plan to secure our future earthly life, Jesus reminds us today not to forget to plan for the most important life- eternal life, the most important future, life after death.  

Material things have their place in making our lives on earth more comfortable but over-reliance on them can make us feel so secure in this life that we forget about what is most important- eternal life. That was the point Amos noted in the first reading. The economic prosperity and boom that the Israelites were enjoying 750 years Before Christ led them to forget about God who had blessed them so abundantly. When they lost touch with God, this led to the moral decline of the nation and its eventual collapse. Silver and gold belongs to God (Haggai 2: 8); all good things come from the Lord. Wealth is not despised by God. Jesus is not anti-wealth or anti-comfort. Abundant riches are God’s blessings too. But we should never forget that our life in this world is only but temporary; but eternity is forever. Therefore, we should use all our riches and all the blessings God has given us to draw close to him. We should possess our possessions and not let our possessions possess us. When our possessions possess us, they become our gods.