Readings:
Amos 8:4-7
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13
Reflection:
25th Sunday in Ordinary time
To quote an old saying, the thing about living in times like these is that we have always lived in times like these.
When I was a kid sitting in Church listening to this parable, I never quite got it. It didn’t make sense to me, “Who was going to cover the cost of the oil or wheat or whatever was being written off?”
Of course, now I realise it’s the bloke who owns the stuff. This piece of work is rifling his boss’s belongings, to pad his own life for the future.
Of course, nothing has changed today.
Every day we can read stories of politicians and others in places of trust, using their power and position to feather their nest, at the expense of others.
One of the well-known politicians was among others who led the world in the war against Iraq in 2003. Not long after leaving No 10, he took a job with an oil firm that was a major investor in Iraq. I’m sure he’s smart enough to make sure it is all legal. But I’m not sure if it passed the pub test.
Not long after Bob Hawke left office, he signed an autograph for someone. He was quoted as saying, “This is the last time I sign anything for free”
At the moment, we have a high-profile case of two women, one a trusted, high-level employee, colluding to defraud a major bank of millions of dollars through inflated and false invoices.
There is a dark side to life, and to some people. Life is not all champagne and strawberries.
People take advantage of us. People use as. People lie about us for their personal gain and position. There is no immunity
Our task is to live in the world as it is. To understand that life is good in spite of its evil, and evil in spite of its good. Our task is to create redemptive love. Our task is to heal the world.
Will it ever be done?
I doubt it
I heard an interview with Verne Harris, the archivist of Nelson Mandela. He was asked what was the biggest lesson he learned from working with Mandela
He said, “we must keep working for what is right. Not because you believe that the future is going to be better, or that the future is going to be determined by your work, you do what is right irrespective of what happens in the future, and that is the quality of endurance and faith.
You keep working for what is right, because you believe that it matters, even if it fails”
Peter Gardiner is a Passionist Priest based in Marrickville NSW. He is presently teaching English at Cambodian Children’s Destiny, Siem Reap, Cambodia, which educates children from low-income rural families