OMELIE / Omelie EN

06 ott 2019

06/10/2019 – 27th Sunday in O. T. Year C

06/10/2019 – 27^th Sunday in O. T. Year C

Reading 1 HAB 1,2-3;2,2-4 * Psalm 94 * Reading 2 2TM 1,6-8.13-14 * Gospel LK 17,5-10

Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord / let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; / let us joyfully sing psalms to him!

The Psalm in answer to the first reading make us see God as someone who has our life in his hands and makes it safe, makes sure it reaches its full potential, fills it with joy!

The text by the prophet Habakkuk, to be honest, opens with a complaint for the Lord. Many times we can see bad situations, full of sufferings, even of violence and injustice. Litigations and fights destroy the peoples, and frustrate our hope too. But in the very moment of our disappointment and of our crying for help, God answers with words of encouragement. We can continue to hope, because God did not forget about us. “The rash one has no integrity; but the just one, because of his faith, shall live”: the just one, he who holds on to his God and lives in obedience to His word, does not have to be afraid. On the contrary, should be afraid “the rash one”, because the latter is not holding on to the “Rock of our salvation”. He who obeys God instead lives, is joyful and safe, thanks to his faith, thanks to his obedience to the God's word.

About hardship is talking the apostle Paul as well, writing to Timothy. He is recommending the disciple to to stir into flame the gift of God, as you can rekindle a fire by adding sticks to the embers. The prison the apostle finds himself in, should not be a reason to be ashamed for the young Christian, on the contrary, it should be a reason to be proud and to feel encouraged to desire to give testimony to Jesus even in situations of persecution, without weaknesses. This is why the words of the Gospel need to be kept alive, those words that tell us about the faith of Jesus in the Father and strengthen in us His love. The Lord’s words are the sticks that rekindle the fire of our love, are the fortifier that makes us strong in every situation.

Today as well we need to hear this recommendation, because different situations in life make many Christians take sides that are often controversial. I am not only talking about young adults who, thinking of marriage, are pushed by society to have sexual experiences and decide for living together beforehand, but also young people working in healthcare who are pushed to help with abortion or to carry out experiments at their patients' expenses, or workers in typography that have to prepare pornographic material or written material that are explicitly against the faith and the Church, or vendors that have to advertise harmful products or to sell goods at a dishonest price, and so on. The Word of God can support our courage to oppose evil at least not to be complicit in it, even if this involves sufferings and great inconvenience.

Let us say with the apostles: «Increase our faith!». The Lord answers us right away that the faith that has been given to us is already enough: it is enough for God to make great miracles. We need just to use this faith that is already in us, without, as we do, leaving it unused and inactive. Faith needs to be lived in humility so it can move the Father’s heart. So Jesus adds a parable. The master behaves towards his servant always like he is a servant. So we do not need to do anything else but always thinking of ourselves as servants. What we do, we do it without expecting anything in return, not even a reward, because a servant is happy to serve. Above all we, who can serve the Lord of heaven and earth!

In front of the Father, we are thankful we can be useful for His kingdom, and when we have fulfilled the task we had been given we go back in front of Him ready to take on a new job. It is useful for our heart and our mind to repeat to ourselves: I am a unprofitable servant, so I am only a servant, a servant who is not asking for being considered something different from a servant. The merit of everything is the Lord’s, because He is the one giving us the faith and the fruit of our faith. Let us keep this faith strong, both as faithfulness and certainty of God’s identity and the works of His love. Let us keep safe this rich trust, as Saint Paul tells us, and let us obey God's word, and therefore we will continue to live, and to benefit from deep peace, and to serve the Father’s love, thanks to our faith!