Today’s readings: Amos 8,4-7; 1Timothy 2,1-8; Luke 16,1-13.

There are too many people around in this day and age who are systematically denied justice in all its forms, be it salary-wise, from the law courts, from our Church tribunals, or even in what is due to each and everyone in the name of human dignity. And to counterbalance this, there too few people and institutions that really voice this concern.

That’s what prophets are for. This concern is the only standpoint from where to grasp in depth the prophets of old and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our problem as believers in today’s world is that we have become too complacent with things as they are and have lost the power of foresight to envisage things as they should be.

Complacency is a common attitude. It is the opposite of faith, because it is a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to make them better. So the prophets’ power of sight is lacking. And as Jesus says in today’s gospel, “the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light”. This is the drama of every believer and of the churches in our times.

A prophet, writes Elie Wiesel, is never indifferent, least of all to injustice, be it human or divine. He is God’s sounding board. Amos, from whom the first reading is taken, was not a prophet by profession. But he had the vision to speak out, and his words brought discomfort, and he was expelled to return to his country of origin. It was not allowed to prophetise in the holy city.

God’s people, saved from Egypt’s slavery and oppression, was now newly being oppressed by its own elite groups. Amos was a public danger because he denounced public morality that had gone to its lowest levels. He could not remain silent and complacent in front of all this.

His words demonstrate an extraordinary freshness when read with our local context in the background. He seems to be addressing the speculation, fraud, daylight robberies, organised criminality, and local mafias which all flourish peacefully with a highly religious culture.

Unfortunately, in all this, what mostly seems to disturb our collective Catholic conscience continues to be divorce, protection of embryos, and sexual morals.

God speaks through his prophets, if there are any around. Amos was not impressed by fancy liturgies and solemn assemblies that were simply a cover-up for rampant legalised social injustice. If worshipping God leaves us immune to the sufferings around us, we should be wondering what God is it that we are invoking.

Significantly, St Paul writes to Timothy in the second reading: “I want all to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument”. The imagery of a community that can raise up clean hands to the Lord is very telling. But to what extent are we with clean hands? If worshipping God leaves us blind and dumb about injustice, then surely something somewhere is wrong.

Jesus digs even deeper in our personalities when he warns that someone who cannot be trusted with money, cannot be trusted with genuine riches. It is worth asking what these ‘genuine riches’ could be. Having double personalities can never match with the calling of Jesus to be authentic, true, and transparent.

We read of people who were trusted with other people’s money but messed about. When we go so low in public standards, it is symptomatic of lack of personal virtues, which in turn impinges on society.

A relationship with things, particularly when priorities are not in place, is always enslaving. Things never fill the heart. This is a dimension of our being that puts us all on the same level, weak and fragile, and it is the root cause of egoism, and in turn, of injustice inflicted on others.

Our problem and challenge, both on the personal and collective levels, is how to put and keep together the legacy of the prophets, the analysis that constantly unveils the social sins of our institutions, and the urgency of making choices that have also political repercussions.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.