GOSPEL POWER l AUGUST 7, 2022 - SUNDAY

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lk 12:32-48 

Jesus said to his disciples, 32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is  your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your  possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not  wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near  and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart  will be also. 35“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36be like those  who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet,  so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and  knocks. 37Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when  he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit  down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes during  the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are  those slaves. 39“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what  hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken  into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an  unexpected hour.” 41Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for  everyone?” 42And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and  prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves,  to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is  that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 44Truly  I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 45But if  that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he  begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink  and get drunk, 46the master of that slave will come on a day when  he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and  will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. 47That slave  who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or  do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. 48But the one who  did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light  beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be  required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even  more will be demanded.

For the biblical writers, the heart designates the inmost  center of a person, where thoughts, desires, decisions,  and the impulse to act are conceived and born. Jesus says  that this inmost center, which defines a person’s character, stays  together with and attaches itself to that reality where it finds its  security, valuing that as its prized treasure. If our treasure is material  possession, we endow it, as it were, with power to determine how  we should think, act, and relate with all other realities. But the heart that gets hooked on material possession is prone to corruption. That  is why the counsel of Jesus is, “Sell your belongings and give alms.”  We can turn material riches into genuine treasures by deciding to  use them to enrich and empower others. In doing that, we do not  suffer loss, since it has pleased the Father to give us the one treasure that truly matters — the Kingdom, which is a new way of relating  with all realities, recognizing each one as belonging to God, and  seeing ourselves as stewards accountable to the Owner for the way  we handle his property. Lord Jesus, help us to become trustworthy custodians of the goods of the  earth, for they ultimately belong to God alone. Amen.