Homily
for the 27thSunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
Based
on Lk 17:5-10 (Gospel),
Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4
(First Reading) and2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14 (Second Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
DUTIFUL
SERVANT
“We are unprofitable servants; we have
done what we were obliged to do.’” (Lk 17:10)
The Gospel
reading for this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time is Lk 17:5-10. The title of this passage is “The Power of Faith”. Parallel
text for this title is Mt 8:10 that says: When
Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you
solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faithb like this.
Footnote b
says “The faith that Jesus asks for from the outset of public life (Mk. 1:15)
and throughout his subsequent career, is that act of trust and self-abandonment
by which people no longer rely on their own strength and policies but commit
themselves to the power and guiding word of him in whom they believe (Lk.
1:20,45; Mt. 21:25p,32). Christ asks for this faith especially when he works
his miracles (8:13; 9:2p; 22p, 28-29; 15:28; Mk 5:36p;10:52p; Lk 17:19) which
are not so much acts of mercy as signs attesting his mission and witnessing to
the kingdom (8:3+; cf. Jn 2:11+), hence he cannot work miraclesunless he finds
the faith without which the miracle lose their true significance (13:58p;
12;38-39; 16:1-4). Since the faith demands the sacrifice of the whole man, mind
and heart, it is not an easy act of humility to perform; many decline it,
particularly in Israel (8:10p; 15:28; 27:42p; Lk 18;8), or are half-hearted (Mk
9;24; Lk 8;13). Even the disciples are slow to believe (8:26p; 14;31; 18;8;
17:20p) and are still reluctant after the resurrection (28;17; Mk 16:11-14; Lk
24;11,25,41). The most generous faith of all, of the ‘Rock’ (16:16-18), the
disciples’ leader, was destined to the shaken by the outrage of the Passion
(26:69-75p) though it was to triumph in the end (Lk 22:32). When faith is
strong it works wonders (17:20p; 21:21p; Mk 16:17) and its appeal is never
refused (21:22p; Mk 9:23) especially when it asks for forgiveness of sin (9:2p;
Lk 7:50) and for that salvation of which it is the necessary condition (Lk
8;12; Mk 16:16, cf. Ac 3:16+).”
Verses 3
and 6 say: The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord
replied, “Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this
mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
Parallel
texts for verse 6 are:
1.
Mt 17:20 - He answered, “Because of your little faithg.
I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could
say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing
would be impossible for you.”h Footnote g says “Var. ‘no faith’”; and Footnote h says “Add.
V. 21 ‘As for this kind (of devil), it is cast out only by prayer and fasting,
cf. Mk 9:29.”
2.
Mt 21:21 - Jesus
answered, “I tell you solemnly, if you have faith and do not doubt at all, not
only will you do what I have done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this
mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ it will be done.
3.
Mk 11:23 - I
tell you solemnly, if anyone says to this mountain ‘Get up and throw yourself
into the sea,’ with no hesitation in his heart but believing that what he says
will happen, it will be done for him.’
Verse 7 says:
“Which of you, with a servant
plowing or minding sheep would say to him when he returned from the field,
‘Come and have your meal immediately’?b Footnote b says “With
this picture of human relations contrast the gospel paradox, 12:37, 23:27; Jn
13:1-16p.”
Parallel
text is Jn 13:4-5 that say: …and
he got up from table, remove his outer garment and, and taking a towel, wrapped
it round his waist (v.4); he then poured
water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feetf and to
wipe them with the towel he was wearing (v. 5). Footnote f says “The
dress and duty are those of a slave, cf1 S 25:41.”
Verses 8, 9
and 10 says: Would he not be more likely to say, ‘Get my supper laid; make
yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink
yourself afterwards’? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have
done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants: we have done
no more than our duty.’”
Parallel
texts for verse 10 are:
1. Jb
22:3 - Does Shaddai
derive any benefit from your integrity,
or profit from your blameless conduct?
2. Jb
35:7 - If you are
just, what do you give him, what benefit
does he receive at your hands?
3. Si
10:26 - Do not try to
be smart when you do your work, do not
put on airs when you are in difficulties.
‘
The First Reading is from Hb 1:2-3; 2:2-4.
Chapter 1, verse
2 says: How long, Yahweh, am I to cry for help while you will not listen;
to cry “Oppression” in your ear and will not save?
Parallel
texts are:
1.
Jb 19:7 - If I protest against such Violence, there
is no reply. If I appeal against it, judgment is never given.
2.
Ps 18:41 - They cry out, there is no one to
save, to Yahweh, but there is no reply.
3.
Jr 14:9 - Why are you like someone bemused, like
a warrior who has no power to rescue? Yet Yahweh, you are in our midst, we are
called by your name your name. Do not desert us!
‘
Verse 3 says: Why do you set injustice before me,
why do you look on where there is tyranny? Outrage and violence, this is all I
see, all is contention, and discord flourishes.
Parallel
texts are:
1.
Hb 1:13 - Your
eyes are too pure to rest on wickedness, you cannot look on a tyranny. Why do
you look on while men are treacherous, and stay silent while the evil man
swallows a better man than he?
2.
Ps 55:9-11 - Lord, that destroys, and from
their malicious tonguesb (v. 9). I can see how violence and discord fill
the city(v. 10) day and night, they stalk together along the city walls. Sorrow
and Misery live inside (v. 11).
Footnote b says “Text
corr.”
3.
Jr 6:7 -
As a well keeps its waters fresh, so she keeps her wickedness fresh. Violence
and ruin are what you hear in her; diseases and wounds are always before me.
4.
Jr 9:2f - They bend
their tongue like a bow; with lying, and not truth but falsehood predominates
in the landa. Yes, they go from crime to crime. But Yahweh they do
not acknowledge him.b Footnote a says “Following Greek.”; and Footnote b says “‘Yahweh’
corr.; ‘me’ Hebr. Hebr. Adds ‘oracle of Yahweh’ absent from Greek.”
5.
Am 3:9-10 - Proclaim it in the palaces of Assyria,i and
in the palaces of the land of Egyptj: saying “Assemble on Samaria’s mountain,
and see what great disorder there is in the city, what oppression is found inside
her (v.9). They know nothing of fair dealing — it is Yahweh who speaks—they
cram their palaces full by harshness and
extortion (v.10). Footnote i says “‘Assyria;
Greek; ‘Ashdod’ Hebrew.”; and Footnote
j says “Israel’s two
great hostile neighbors are summoned as witnesses to her crimes, as heaven and
earth are summoned in Is. 1:2, cf. Dt 30:19.”
Chapter 2, verse
2 says: Yahweh answered and said: Write the vision down; inscribe it on
tablets, to be easily read.
Parallel
texts are:
1.
Is 8:1 - Yahweh said to me: Take a large seal,a
and scratch on it in ordinary writing,
Maher-shalal-hash-baz,b Footnote a says “The
cylindrical seal of the Assyrians and Babylonians”; and Footnote b
says “I.e. ‘Speedy-Spoil-quick-booty’. A proper name, cf. v. 3.
2. Jr
30:2 - Thus says the
LORD, the God of Israel: Write down on a scroll all the words I have spoken to
you.
3. Rv
1:19 - Now write down all you see of present happening,q and things that are
still to come. Footnote q says “‘present
happenings’ refers to the letters of ch. 2 and 3: ‘things that are still to
come’: the revelations of ch. 4:22.”
‘
Verse 3
says: Since for this vision is
for its own timeb only; eager for its own fulfillmentc; it
does not deceive. If it comes slowly wait for it, for come it will, without fail. Footnote b says “Hence
the command to write it down. The vision will be fulfilled ‘at the appointed
time’, cf. Dn 8:19,26; 10:14; 11:27,35. The written document pledges the word
of Yahweh to fulfill it at this appointed time, cf 2 P 3:2, and will later
stand as a witness to its veracity. Cf Is 8:1,3; 30:8.” And Footnote c
says “The vision has an energy of its own, since it is the expression of a
divine word moving to fulfillment, cf. Is 55:10-11. The Advent liturgy uses
this verse to express expectation of the Messiah. See also Heb 10:17.”
Parallel
texts are:
1.
Nb 23:19 - God
is no man that he should lie, no son of Adam to draw back., who feels regret. Is
it his to say and not do, to speak and not fulfill?
2.
2 P 3:4-10…and
ask, “Well, where is this coming? Everything goes on as it has since the Fathersd
died, as it has since it began at the creation”(v. 4). They are choosing to
forgete that there were heavens at the beginning and that the earth
was formed by the word of God out of water and between the waters(v. 5);so that
the world of that time was destroyed by being flooded by water (v.6).But by the
same word, the present sky and earth are destined for fire, and are being reserved
until judgment day so that all sinners may be destroyed (v. 7).But there is one thing, my friends, that you must
never forget: that, with the Lord, a day can mean a thousand years, and a
thousand years is like a day (v.8).The Lord does not being slow to carryout his
promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with
you all, wanting nobody to be lost and
everybody to be brought to change his waysf(v. 9).The day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish away, the
elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains
will be burnt up (v. 10).g
Footnote
d says “Either the Patriarchs or the Christians of the first generation”; Footnote e says “The
inference is that the false teachers proved the impossibility of the parousia
from the unchangeableness of the universe”; Footnote
f says “God’s mercy is an alternative explanation
for the alleged delay of the parousia, cf. Ws. 11:23f.; 12:8+.” and Footnote g says ‘”burnt up’ corr.; ‘uncovered’ (Greek). This destruction of the world by
fire was, in Graeco-Roman times, a common topic for philosophers.”
Verse 4
says: See how he flagsd
he whose soul is not at rights; but the upright man will live by his faithfulness.e Footnote d says “‘he flags, he’ corr; M.T. ; It is distended
(=full of pride), it is not at rights, his soul within him’, Vulg. ‘He who is
unbelieving’ Greek “if he flags, my soul is not pleased with him, but the
upright man will have life for his faith in me’”; and Footnote e says “This
maxim of universal application, cf. Is 3:10-11, here sums up the content of the
vision. Faithfulness to God (cf. Ho 2:22; Jr 5:1,3; 7:28; 9:2, etc.), i.e. to
his word and to his will, is characteristic of the ‘upright’ man, and assures
him security and life here on earth (cf. Is 33:6, Ps 37:3; Pr 10:25, etc.). The
wicked man who does not have this ‘uprightness’, runs to ruin. The upright and
the wicked in the context (1:2-4, 12-17; 2:5-18) are respectively Judah and the
Chaldeans: the former will live, the others perish. In the LXX, where
‘faithfulness’ is rendered ‘faith’ apostle Paul finds the doctrine of
justification by faith.”
Parallel
texts are:
1. Rm
1:17…since this is what reveals the justicel
of God to us: it shows how faith to faith;m or as scripture says:
“The upright man finds life through faith.” Footnote l says “Not
‘distributive’ justice (reward for deeds) but saving justice (cf. Is 56:1) of
God, 3:26, who fulfills his promise to save by giving salvation as a free gift.;”
and Footnote m
says “The expression probably means that
faith is the one necessary condition to ensure this revelation.”
2. Ga
3:11 - The law will not
justify anyone in the sight of God, because we are told: the righteous man finds
life through faith.
3. Heb
10:38 - The righteous
man shall live by faith, but if he draws back, my soul will take no pleasure in
him.
The Second Reading is from 2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14.
Verses 6
and 7 say: That is why, I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift
that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of
timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control.
Parallel
texts for verse 7 are:
1.
Ac 4:20-21 - We cannot promise to stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard (v.
20). The court repeated the warnings and then released them, they cannot think
of any way to punish them, since all the people were giving glory to God for what had
happened (v. 21).
2. Ac
4:20-21 - The spirit you received is
not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into your lives again; it is the spirit
of sons, and it makes us cry out ‘Abba, Father!’I Footnote i
says “The prayer of Christ in Gethsemane, Mk 14:36.”
3.
1 Tm 4:14 - You have in you a spiritual gift which was
given to you when the prophets spoke and the body of elders laid their hands on
you;d do not let it lie unused. Footnote d says “Li.
‘a spiritual gift given by means of prophecy with imposition of hands by the
body of elders’. The ‘imposition of hands’ can be the rite for transmitting
grace or a charism, Heb 6:2, or it can be the gesture used when blessing, Mt
19:15, or curing, Mt 9:18p; 17; 28:8, or imparting the Holy Spirit to the newly
baptized, Ac 1:5+. It can also be the rite for consecrating a person for a
particular public function, Ac 6:6; 13:3, as in this passage and 5:22+; 2 Tm
1:6. Since the day on which he received the imposition of hands, Timothy has
had a permanent charism (‘grace-gift’) that consecrates him to his ministry.
For the part played by the ‘prophets’, cf. 1Tm 1:18.”
Verse 8
says: So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of
me for being his prisoner but with me bear the hardships for the sake of the Good
News, relying on the power of God.
Parallel
texts are:
1.
2 Tm 1:16 - I hope the Lord will be kind to all the family of Onesiphorus because
he often been a comfort to me and has never been ashamed of my chains.
2.
Lk 9:26- For
if anyone is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of Man will be
ashamed of when he comes in his own glory and in the glory of the Father and of
the holy angels.
3.
Rm 1:16 - For
I am not ashamed of the Good News; it is the power of God saving all who have
faithj- Jew first,k but Greek as well. Footnote j
says “Faith, which is the response of a
human being to God as truth and goodness and so the one source of salvation,
relies on the truth of God’s promises and on God’s faithfulness to them (Rm
3:3f; 1 Th 5:24; 2 Tm 2;13; Heb 10:23; 11:11) and on his power to implement
them (Rm 4:17-21; Heb 11:19). After
the long O.T. period of preparation (Heb
11) God has spoken through his Son (Heb 1:1). We must believe the Son (cf. Mt
8:10+; Jn 3:11+) and the kerygma or proclamation (Rm 10:8-17; 1 Co 1:21; 15:11,
14; cf. Ac 2:22+) of the Good News (Rm 1:16; 1 Co 15:1-2; Phl: 27; Ep 1:13)
made by the apostles (Rm 1:5; 1 Co 3:5; cf. Jn 17:20). The kerygma proclaims
that God raised Jesus from the dead, made him Kyrios (Rm 4:24f; 10:9; Ac 17:31;
1 P 1:21; cf. 1 Co 15:14, 17), and thorough him offers life to all who believe
in him (Rm 6:8-11; 2 Co 4:13f; Ep 1:19f; Col 2;12; 1 Th 4:14). Faith in the
name, or person, of Jesus (Rm 3:26; 10:13; cf. Jn 1:12; Ac 3:16; 1 Jn 3;23) who
is the Messiah (Ga 2:16; cf. Ac 24;24; 1 jn 5:1), the Lord (Rm 10:9; 1 Co 12:3;
Ph 2:11; cf. Ac 16;31) and Son of God (Ga 2:20; cf. jn 20:31; 1 jn 5:5; Ac
8;37; 9:20) is thus the necessary condition of salvation (Rm 10:9-13; 1 Co
1:21; Ga 3:22; cf. Is 7:9+; Ac 4:12; 16:31; Heb 11:6; Jn 3:15-18). Faith is not
only intellectual assent, it is to trust and obey (Rm 1:5; 6:17; 10:16; 16:26;
cf. Ac 6:7) the life giving truth (2 Th 2:12f). Faith which thus unites a
person with Christ (2 Co 13:5; Ga 2:16, 20; Ep 3:17) also confers the Spirit on
him (Ga 3:2,5,14;cf. Jn 7:38f; Ac 11:17), the Spirit of the sons of God (Ga
3:26; cf. Jn 1:12). Faith is reliance on God and not on self (Rm 3:27; Ep 2:9)
and thus contrasts with the old order of the Law (Rm 7:7+) with its vain search
(Rm 10;3; Ph 3:9) for holiness by works
(Rm 3;20,28; 9:31f; Ga 2:16; 3:11f): only faith can effect rue holiness, the
saving holiness of God himself (Rm 1:17+; 3:21-26), received as a free gift
from him (Rm 3:24; 4:16; 5:17; Ep 2:8;cf. Ac 15:11). Faith relates to the
promise made to Abraham (Rm 4; Ga 3:6-18) and so makes salvation accessible to
everyone, pagans included (Rm 1:5,16; 3:29f; 9:30; 10:11f; 16:26; Ga 3:8). It
is coupled with baptism (Rm 6:4+), calls for public profession (Rm 10:10; 1 Tm
6:12), and expresses itself in charity (Ga 5:6;cf. Jm 2:14+). Faith is obscure
(2 Co 5:7; Heb 11:1; cf. Jn 20:29), and involves hope as its concomitant (Rm
5:2+). It must be allowed to grow (2 Co 10:15;
1Th 3:10; 2 Th 1:3) amid struggles and sufferings (Ph 1:29; Ep 6:16; 1 Th
3:2-8; 2 Th 1:4; Heb 12:2; 1 P 5:9), demanding fortitude (1 Co 16:13; Col
1:23;) and tenacity 2 Tm 4:7;cf. 1:14; 1 Tm 6:20) right up to the vision and
possession of God (1 Co 13:12;cf. 1Jn 3:2); and Footnote k says “In the actual development of salvation
history, the Jews come first; ‘salvation comes from the Jews’ (Jn. 4:22). Cf.
Rm. 2:9-10, Mt. 10:5f, 15:24, Mk. 7:27, Ac. 13:5+. But abuse of this privilege
could condemn them.”
4.
Rm 5:3 - But
that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our suffering. These
sufferings bring patience, as we know…
5.
Ep 3:13- So
I beg you, never lose confidence just because of the trials that I go through on
your account; they are your glory.
Verse 13
says: Keep as your pattern the sound teaching you heard from me, in the
faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Parallel
text is 1 Tm 1:10 that says: …for
those who are immoral with women of with boys or with men, for liars and for
perjurers, and for everything else that is contrary to sound teaching,h Footnote h says “One characteristic of the Pastoral letters
is this insistence on ‘sound doctrine’. Cf 6:3, 2 Tm 1:13; 4:3; Tt 1:9,13;
2:1,8.”
Verse 14
says: You have been trusted to
look after something precious, guard it with the help of the holy Spirit who
lives in us.
Parallel
texts are:
1.
1 Tm 6:20 - My dear Timothy, take care of all that has
been entrusted to you.hHave nothing to do with pointless
philosophical discussions and antagonistic beliefs of the “knowledge” which is
not knowledge at all… Footnote
h says “The faith that has been entrusted to him:
this is one of the main themes of the Pastoral letters.”
2.
Rm 5:5 - And
this hope is not deceptive, because the love of Gode has been poured
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which had been given us.f Footnote
e says “God’s love for us; of this the Holy Spirit
is a pledge and to this, by his active presence within us, he bears witness,
cf. 8:15 and Ga. 4:6. Through him we stand before God as sons before their
father; the love is mutual. This text therefore, in the light of its parallel
passages, asserts that the Christian shares in the life of the Trinity through
‘sanctifying grace’”; and Footnote f says “
The promised Spirit, Ep 1;13, cf. Ga 3:14; Ac 2:33+, distinctive of the new
covenant as contrasted with the old, Rm 2:29; 7:6; 2 Co 3:6; cf. Ga 3:3; 4:29;
Ezk 36:27+, is not merely exhibition of healing or charismatic power, Ac 1:8+;
is also, and especially, an inward principle of new life, a principle that God
‘gives’, 1 Th 4:8, etc., cf. Lk 11:13; Jn 3:34; 14:16f; Ac 1:5; 2:38 etc.; 1 Jn
3:24, ‘sends’, Ga 4:6; cf. Lk 24:49; Jn 14:26; 1 P 1:12, ‘supplies’, Ga 3:5; Ph
1:19, ‘pours out’, Rm 5:5; Tt 3:5f; cf. Ac 2:33. Received into the Christian by
faith, Ga 3:2,14;cf. Jn 7:38f; Ac 11:17, and baptism, 1 Co 6:11; Tt 3:5; cf. Jn
3:5; Ac 2:38; 19:2-6, It dwells within him, Rm 8:9; 1 Co 3:16; 2 Tm 1:14; cf.
Jm 4:5, in his spirit, Rm 8:16; cf. the Spirit of Christ, Rm 8:9; Ph 1:19; Ga
4:6; cf. 2 Co 3:17; Ac 16:7; Jn 14;26; 15:26; 16:7, 14; makes the Christian a
son of God, Rm 8;14-16; Ga 4:6f, and establishes Christ in his heart, Ep 3:16.
For the Christian (as for Christ himself, Rm 1:4+) this Spirit is a principle
of resurrection, Rm 8:11+, in virtue of as eschatological gift which even in
life signs him as with a seal, 2 Co 1:22; Ep 1:13; 4:30, and which is present
within him by way of pledge, 2 Co 1:22; 5:5; Ep 1:14, and of first-fruits, Rm
8:23. It takes the place of the evil principle in man that is ‘the flesh’. Rm
7:5+, and becomes a principle of faith, 1 Co 12:3; 2 Co 4:13; cf. 1 Jn 4:2f, of
supernatural knowledge, 1 Co 2:10-16; 7:40; 12:8f; 14:2f; Ep 1:17; 3:16, 18;
Col 1:9; cf. Jn 14:26+, of love, Rm. 5:5, 15:30, Col. 1:8, of sanctification,
Rm 15:16, 1 Co. 6:11, 2 Th .2:13, cf. 1P 1:2, of moral conduct, Rm 8:4-9, 13;
Ga. 3:16-25, of apostolic courage, Ph. 1:19; 2 Tim 1:7f; cf. Ac 1:8+, of hope,
Rm 15:13, Ga. 5:5, Ep. 4:4, of prayer. Rm. 8:26f,cf. Jm 4:35; Jude 20. The Spirit must not be quenched, 1 Th. 5:19,
or grieved, Ep. 4:30. It unites man with
Christ, 1 Co 6:17, and thus secures the unity of his Body, 1 Co. 12:3, Ep.
2:16,18, 4:4.”
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