TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY

1.       The prophet Amos is a top draw prophet in the area of Social Injustice. He calls on those who “have” to take care of those who “have not” for the simple reason that everything we have is given by God. It could not have come at a more appropriate time. The islands in the Caribbean: Grenada, Jamaica, Cayman and Cuba have been devastated. We sit in comfortable houses, with top of the line Electronic equipment: cell phones, TVS, Microwaves, Stereo equipment, we have jobs to go to and a car in the driveway. 90 % of the Grenadians do not have a pillow to put under their head. However, the human heart is very generous and aid has been pouring out to these islands - from our schools and other agencies reading out in a small but very human way from people who have to people who have all taken away from them.

2.       Amos reflects on the greedy and grabbing mentality of people. He comments on the fake piety of those who keep the Sabbath, eagerly waiting for it to get over so that they can go back to their money making business. They will doctor their weighing scales, they will jack up the prices, they will run their competitors out of business. Amos spoke about two and a half millennia ago. But eerily enough what he says can be applied to our multinationals today.

          The owners of these big corporations are usually good people, probably philanthropists. They give huge donations to needy causes. They are seen in churches and temples and synagogues and mosques. They leave the cut throat decisions to ruthless CEOs and fast track managers who only think of the bottom line.

3.       All the decisions are perfectly legal. Everything is done by the book. Everything is licit. But that still does not make it right.  The Crimes outlined in the first reading are seen not only in big businesses, but even in small Mom and Pop stores, and in private deals. The poor are in a helpless position. They do not know where to start seeking redress. They are afraid to speak out. They do not have the correct words to utter the injustices that they experience. They cannot afford corporate lawyers who can tie the system up in red tape.

As a result they accept jobs without proper pay, without proper security, without proper working conditions, without proper means of representation.  Even it these are perfectly legal and all the contracts properly signed. It is still an offense and Amos tells us that God is inflamed about it.

4.       A good boss would care for the welfare of the Worker. He or she would seek their rights, their pension plans. He or she would explain in the language the workers could understand about their benefits and how they could address the issues in which they think they are exploited, or where they might get an unfair deal.

          This attitude can only come from a business person who although is in business for the profits, does not put the profits above human beings . We see that in the Gospel today.

5.       The star figure in the Gospel is the Outrageous Servant. He is to be admired for his chutzpah, but not imitated for his crookedness.  The lesson to be learnt from this story is not the cleverness of the crooked servant, but rather from the Master. He has seen the under handedness of his servant. Yet he does not call in the law and the authorities to have him punished.  The master does not act foolishly either. The servant is already fired, he can do no more harm, no more stealing.

          The Master is one who is not attached to his good. He is not caught up with the desire to be vindictive or vindicated. This is what we are called to admire and imitate.

6.       There are four other statements on wealth - the most well know of them is that a person cannot serve two Masters. A person cannot serve both God and Wealth. However the unjust slave is no model for these statements on wealth. If anybody is the model, it is the Master. It challenges us to look at how we are stewards of the talents, time and treasure entrusted to us. We start with the Church - because that is what we are - and then individually.

It is a call to inquire whether we are paying those salaried workers a just wage and give them the pay raise that proportional to the standard of living. Unfortunately quite a few churches fail in this - for the simple reason that they run so heavily in the red that they do not have the money to act justly. It is a call for the Churches to look at the volunteers who do so much and often dip into their own pockets to help the church run smoothly. It is a call to make sure that no advantage is taken of these volunteers and lay guilt trips on them, when they decide that family and personal reasons require them to pull back.

7.       Here at our Lady of Lourdes, we have been fortunate to have a good record of taking care of the physical, the material and the spiritual needs of the people.

  In the physical well being: we have the Jin Shin Jitsu and Tai Chi. In fact even as I was writing this at 9:00 at night, there was a lady practising Tai Chi in the gardens right in front of the church. The Red Cross that meets in our halls on Monday morning and Wednesday nights. They take care of the homeless especially the medical needs from taking blood pressure and doing pedicures to giving them a hot meal and serving them with dignity and keeping their pride.

 In the Material level. We have the food banks, the Parish Social ministry taking care not only of the legal needs of the poor, the needs of new immigrants and refugees, the arts through the No Name Theatre, through the out door stations of the Cross  on the Spiritual Level, besides the Sacraments and Devotions - Novenas and First Fridays, the Divine Mercy and Couples for Christ, and Charismatics. There are also spirituality courses: like Scripture Classes at various times of the Year, Retreats on Justice themes: Singing the Lord’s song in a ForeignLand, Twilight retreats, and the 19th Annotation of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

8.         Our record is good. But that is not what the Lord is calling us to. We are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect and hence the question is “what more can I do - for the Lord has done wonders for me?” Our challenge today is to look at our comfortableness : the roof over our head, the money in the bank, the decent and reliable car in the garage, the high speed computers - and ask yourself what more can I do for the Lord. You have been generous enough in dollars and cents - but how about sharing the talent: we have doctors and lawyers, we have Computer experts and teachers, we have mechanics and skilled crafts people - perhaps we need to approach Sisters Frances and Celeste. No these are not the hurricanes.. But they do act like ones in changing the face of our parish and making our parish reflect better the image and likeness of God. Just now as St. Paul says- we see like in a mirror darkly.