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| “Faith” by Giuseppe Angeli, 1754 |
Reading 1: Romans 4:20-25
Brothers and sisters:
Abraham did not doubt God’s promise in unbelief;
rather, he was empowered by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what God had promised
he was also able to do.
That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
But it was not for him alone that it was written
that it was credited to him;
it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,
who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over for our transgressions
and was raised for our justification.
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Commentary on Rom 4:20-25
St. Paul continues to develop his “salvation through faith” apologia. In this passage he again uses Abraham (clearly addressing a predominantly Jewish audience) whose faith in God caused him to behave in righteous ways. In fact, it was his unreserved faith that raised him to his beloved status. Faith in Jesus must be on the same level since his passion was suffered for our salvation. We note once more that the use of the word “justification” equates to one being “just as if they had not sinned.”
CCC: Rom 4:20 146; Rom 4:25 517, 519, 654, 977
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Responsorial Psalm: Luke 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
R. (see 68) Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel
He has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
R. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel
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Commentary on Lk 1:69-70, 71-72, 73-75
These strophes are the opening lines of the great Canticle of Zechariah sung to the newborn St. John the Baptist by his father at the occasion of his naming. He reminds the infant St. John that God is faithful to his promises and proclaims the Savior’s mission of salvation, a promise to Abraham, as a fulfillment of that promise. These introductory verses serve as a profession of faith in God and the Messiah of whom St. John will be the forerunner. Zechariah sings of the salvation first promised to Abraham, now to be fulfilled in Jesus.
CCC: Lk 1:73 706
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Gospel: Luke 12:13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.”
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Commentary on Lk 12:13-21
The passage begins with Jesus refusing to provide rabbinical guidance to a person in the crowd. Such guidance is provided in Numbers 27:1-11 and Deuteronomy 21:15ff, but the Lord saw greed at the root of the request. He uses the parable (found only in Luke) of the rich landowner (fool in some translations) to emphasize the need to focus on the spiritual gifts that do not perish, not just on material goods. He tells the one who wishes to have Jesus arbitrate a dispute with that person’s brother to take care against greed.
The parable has elements of other stories used by Jesus in which the unpredictability of the end of life is emphasized. Speaking to the crowd, the Lord tells them to focus on those spiritual attributes without delay. St. Athanasius used these words: “A person who lives as if he were to die every day- given that our life is uncertain by definition- will not sin, for good fear extinguishes most of the disorder of our appetites; whereas he who thinks he has a long life ahead of him will easily let himself be dominated by pleasures (Adversus Antigonum).” [4]
CCC: Lk 12:13-14 549
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Reflection:
The Gospel message today is, for the adult living in the modern world, one of the most difficult of Jesus’ axioms to come to grips with. Society views people with many possessions as being successful. In every human culture this is true. If one lives comfortably free from financial worries, content with all the food they need, having substantial property and creature comforts, that person is considered to have spent their effort and life well.
Yet today, the Lord tells his “friend” to be careful not to fall victim to the sin of greed. We ask ourselves, when does our responsibility to family and to self stop being “responsibility” and start becoming greed? Let’s examine that tipping point in our attitudes.
We are taught in the “school of life” that our lives are to be spent providing the following for the family of which we are a part: first, a place to live, a home. This is shelter from the elements and safety from natural predators. Second, we are to provide food for ourselves and our family. In an agrarian society this meant either tending crops or herds of animals (we are skipping the “hunter gatherer” stage). In a modern family this means multiple members of the family may work outside the home to provide income for food and to maintain the domicile.
This is where things start to get blurry. What exactly are we working for? This question varies depending on where we live in the world, but, in all cases, there is a point at which what we work for drives our effort beyond what we need into what we want, in short our greed. At some point each person must evaluate the balance of their effort and ask: “Am I doing this because I need (a bigger house, another car, the latest sound systems, a pool) or because I want?"
In some, this distinction becomes irrelevant since they do not understand that there is something more important than having the best or the most of everything. There are others who believe that society owes them the basics (shelter and food), and that they are not required to do anything but accept this charity, squandering their efforts, or worse making no effort at all.
We, however, as disciples of Christ, must take a close look at the balance of our life’s efforts. We need to spend enough of our effort providing for ourselves and our families, and much of the rest developing that treasure for the heavenly kingdom. The difficult part of this equation is finding that balance. It is so easy to rationalize that working for something that falls into the greed category is really a need.
For us the tool to help us find the right balance is prayer. The Lord prayed constantly. Elsewhere in St. Luke’s Gospel we are told to pray persistently for guidance. That is where we need to be as we pursue the use of the talents our Lord gave us. We receive, with gratitude, what is offered for the greater glory of God, and use those resources in a balanced way. And if in so doing, we gain more than we need, we are generous to the poor. We remember that it is for God’s glory we do what we do, and it is his treasure we truly value.
Pax
[1] The picture is “Faith” by Giuseppe Angeli, 1754.
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible, Gospels and Acts, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p.437.
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