My sisters and brothers,
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!
Our parish picnic was a success even though not everyone was able to be there. One thing I noticed was that our parishioners were happy to visit and some realized that their co -workers or friends were Catholics too – because they haven’t seen each other at church. It was really a good experienced to be in nature and to have an opportunity to build up our communities with activities like this, that we will remember forever. I thank all of you that made this parish picnic possible.
Our readings this weekend warns against greed and advises us to invest for eternity. St. Paul in our second reading (1 Timothy 2: 1-7), reminds us that God desires all people to be saved through Jesus Christ, who is the mediator between God and humanity having given Himself as a ransom for everyone. St. Paul shared some instructions that serves as a foundational principle for us to live and conduct worship, highlighting God’s universal love and the importance of prayer. The prophet Amos (Amos 8: 4-7), condemns exploitive practices, highlighting how greed-driven merchants cheat the poor by using dishonest scales and measurements, even selling the most worthless parts of their goods while claiming to be devout. This passage is a potent warning against the love of money and materialism that can lead people to harm others. In our Gospel (Luke 16: 1-13), Jesus shared a parable about a dishonest manager who, upon learning he would be fired, uses his last days to shrewdly reduce the debts of his master’s debtors, thus making friends who will support him after his dismissal. Jesus uses this worldly wisdom to instruct us, His followers, to be equally shrewd with God’s resources, investing them to make eternal friends by generously providing for others, so that we can find security.
This parable calls us to refocus our priorities, placing God and eternal values above the pursuit of temporary earthly riches. God entrusts us with resources (time, talents, money), for which we are accountable. Therefore we are encouraged to use these resources for good. For true security comes not from earthly savings but from investing in eternal matters, which leads to eternal life. AMEN. God Loves You! ~ Fr. Neil