HOMILY FOR THE 25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C.

Amos 8: 4-7; Psalm 113:1-2,4-6,7-8; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13. 

“SPIRITUAL ASTUTENESS!” 

By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide.

 ·      In the world today, people who are smart are often praised for their ability to outsmart the system. People now talk of working smart and no longer working hard, reading smart no longer reading hard. No wonder, smartphones, and smart gadgets have flooded our markets to meet our 'smart' needs.

·      Jesus in the gospel reading today (Luke 16:1-13), praised the steward for also being smart which he called astuteness. So, if we think we are the first to be smart, we must now look to the scriptures through the lens of the steward and see that there has probably been a lot of smart people before us.

·      What is particularly instructive about this steward is that despite having enjoyed so much of his master’s trust and generosity, he failed to make good use of that privilege. He was insincere, wasteful, and careless; hence he had a bad reputation leading to his master demanding an account of his stewardship. 

·      This smart dishonest steward thought that in conniving with his master's debtors he will get a safe landing after he is laid off from his stewardship. But he forgot that those he was dealing with were equally dishonest like him since they also agreed to his deal. And no doubt he never got the safe landing he desperately wanted.

·      Dear friends in Christ, Jesus uses this parable to teach us that money can never satisfy. Have you wondered about the limit a rich person may reach and say to himself I now have enough? Unfortunately, the more we acquire the more we want to acquire.

·      We are prepared to do all kinds of bad and dubious things to acquire this wealth. We are prepared to kill, cheat, fornicate, lie, and assassinate people's character to gain wealth and influence.

·      The prophet Amos in the first reading (Amos 8:4-7), warns of the dangers of this excessive attachment to wealth. We are prepared to cheat and oppress the poor. We do not even care where we commit these crimes, whether in the church, school, office, shop, etc. These are crimes against God and our neighbor, and we must stop them.

·      Today, we must realize that we are all stewards of God, and we must all be called to give an account of our stewardship. When and how we might not know but that day is sure to come.

·      We wait for the final moments to make dishonest transactions like the steward in the gospel. Today is an opportunity for us to put our account of stewardship in order. Rather than being materially astute, Jesus calls us to spiritual astuteness.

·      When we become spiritually astute, we are not afraid of the provisions of tomorrow because God will always be there for us. We will always be detached from our wealth and possession. We will learn to be generous to the poor. These are the things that unlock the gate of heaven and blessing for us.

·      Today we must decide between God and wealth. We cannot serve two masters. We either serve God or wealth and not the two. However, we must realize that the one who has God has everything. To choose God is to choose everything and this is what true spiritual astuteness means.

·      The psalmist tells us today "praise the Lord who lifts up the poor". Through your wealth, talent, time, and gifts make it a point of duty to lift the poor today. Sharing and generosity never diminish your wealth, it only makes them travel farther than you can ever imagine. This is spiritual astuteness. 

·      May God give us the grace to keep a clean record of our earthly stewardship and choose to serve him in spirit and truth through our actions and inactions, through Christ our Lord, Amen!

·      Happy Sunday!!!