19/09/2010 - 25ª DOMENICA DEL T.O. - C
1Reading Amos 8,4-7 Psalm 112 2Reading 1Tim 2,1-8 Gospel Lk 16,1-13

"And I have made known to them your name and I shall make it known, so that the love by which you have loved me be in them and I in them". This prayer Jesus did it to the Father: now, as he is coming to an end, he repeats it. It is very important for him that the disciples come to know the Father and continue to know him. He commits himself before him to make known his name, that is his true identity, the fullness and the perfection of his love. Jesus, the Son, is and shall ever be committed to reveal the face of his Father, whom we too call Father. One day he said that only the Son can make us know the Father, because only he knows him with that intimate life relationship, having the necessary mind towards a deep and true relationship. Every time we come closer to Jesus, that we think of him or pray to him, he leads us to the mystery of love of the Father. This is necessary for us, for our growth, for our maturity, for our inner freedom and to make it possible that we live healthy relationships. Now, the Lord, speaks about the inner motivation of this commitment to make us know the Father: "So that the love by which you have loved me be in them and I in them". Jesus continues to look at the dawn of his life and of his mission towards our transformation/change, as an immersion in God, in his love. Our Christian life starts with Baptism, the immersion in the life of the trinity, which is equal to the love of the Father to the Son.

Today's Readings help us see the big difference between the Christian faith and every other religion. This can be seen when one looks at the many movements of oriental faith and philosophy, like in India and other asian countries. The thought that emerges from these cultures, spread through music and gymnastics or even by the use of forms of medication, make us focus on ourselves, to our inner feelings, emotions, to the well being of our body; the aim is to "feel good", to be fulfilled, to enjoy at all costs wealth: it could be that this is not declared by multinational societies. Who live the Christian faith does not think 'to save' himself, but to give to others, kept as brothers, the signs of God's love, even if it means to suffer and to work hard.
The prophet Amos is God's voice to warn those who look only to be well themselves, who use their goods to abuse others in their painful situations. God cannot approve such a behavior of course. He is the God who loves the poor, the orphan and the widow, and bends down to listen to them. In fact Jesus concludes his 'strange' parable with the words: " Made friends with dishonesty, so that when you are in need, these come to welcome you"! The Lord is trying to tell us that we are to use our richness for the good of the poor, of the destitute, for those who are not able to provide for themselves. He calls our richness "dishonest" and "others". Why dishonest? Sometimes it can happen that richness grows because of some dishonesty, even if not always. It is dishonest because of the lies contained: one can be mislead with the promise of joy, of security. But in a moment of illness, and all the joy and security disappear! It mislead us with the promise of being good, but the selfishness that lies in it, can make one unhappy and restless. When it is so, it is dishonest. And Jesus calls it also "others", because it belongs to us only to use: to have something we need to give it life, and when we die we are bound to leave it to others. The poor, who trust themselves to God's providence, make sure that they will welcome in heaven those who had blessed them. That's why Jesus says "they shall welcome you in eternal dwellings". The use we make of our richness in this world, shows where we are in our faith journey. The words: "who was faithful in little things…" can be translated into: who showed his faith in God using his richness to love, enjoys the trust to serve important charismas in the Church. The joy of serving the Lord is not to be taken away!
The prayer of st. Paul helps us to make the right decisions in remaining faithful to the Father. Prayer is a great help to keep us focused on that which doesn't pass, to the true richness that does not betray us because promised by God himself.

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