Homily
Thirty-Third Sunday of the Year A: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-31; · Ps 128:1-5;
· 1 Thess 5:1-6
· Matt 25:14-15, 19-21.
Blessed Are
Those Who Fear the Lord (Ps 128:1a)
Today we celebrate the Thirty-Third
Sunday of Year A. The liturgical season is gradually coming to an end. Next
weekend will be a “Thanksgiving Celebration” (here in the United States). Soon
after that Christmas! We are grateful to
God. Even though recently, when we turn on our TVs and our Radios, or pick up
the newspapers, so much is going on in the world, socially, politically
economically and religiously, that, sometimes we cannot even keep track of
them. It causes anxieties and worries?
In the midst these events,
anxieties and worries, the church invites and exhorts us in the readings of
today, as well captured by the Psalmist, that “blessed are those, or happy are
those, who fear the Lord and walk in his ways” (Ps 128:1a). One may ask, what
is the fear of the Lord? How do we fear the Lord?
In the first
reading of today (Proverbs 31), a classic Wisdom Literature, the listed
qualities of the ideal wife, or a Lady Wisdom are all facets of the ‘fear of
the Lord.’ The virtuous woman, ‘esit hayil, in this reading, like Ruth,
is a trust worthy, holy, perfect, and faithful. She is a model of one who
fears the Lord. She honors God, bear witness to him and showcase God’s
attributes. She is also merciful, kind, hardworking, modest, prudent,
understanding and just. She is dependable and responsible.
Similarly, St.
Paul in the Second reading (1Thess 5:1-6), reminds the anxious Thessalonian
church the meaning of the “fear of the Lord.” For Paul this include, preparedness and
staying very sober for the day of the Lord as foretold by Israel’s prophets (
Amos 5, Zephaniah, Joel etc). It is a day of God’s judgment, forgiveness and
restoration. In our daily works, we must not lose hope of God’ judgment and his
promise of blessings and reward to those who are faithful and trusting in him. In our daily challenges and activities, each
of us is called to be conscious of the hiddenness of God in our midst, his
holiness, his transcendence and his immanence, his divine surprises and his mysterious
ways of dealing with us, by our readiness and preparedness in virtuous act of
mercy and charity.
Finally, the
fear of the Lord is further highlighted in Jesus’ gospel parable of the talent
(Matt 25:14-30). Here, the travelling master, Jesus, distributed gifts to three
of his servants, 5, 2 and 1 respectively. The first two servants feared the
Lord, traded and multiplied their gifts. The
third servant left his gift hidden in the ground, unproductive. He went
about complaining, blaming others, and criticizing even the master,
the distributor of the talent, calling him names- horrible, a hard man!
He lacks the
fear of the Lord! He fails to grasp the nature of his responsibility. His
action represents not only laziness, arrogance, but also lack of love for the
master. It represents a disciple who is trying to play safe; a disciple not
ready to bear witness to the gospel at all times, not ready to keep watch for
the return of the master. His excuse, ironically, is that he was “afraid”,
which is equivalent to faithlessness, lack of readiness and lack of trust in
the master, the Lord. He completely, misunderstood the true meaning of
the fear of the Lord.
As we go about
our daily activities, heading towards, thanksgiving, and Christmas, or the end
of the liturgical season, may we continue to pray, for increase in our genuine
awareness of the “fear of the Lord,” which consist in trusting him always,
hoping in him always; humbly and wisely walking in his ways of love, hope,
faith, obedience to his precepts, forgiveness, responsible use of our
talents, and charity to our neighbors 2. In light of the Gospel passage, in what ways do we live our sense of the “fear the Lord”?
3. How do we assist members of our faith communities to “fear the Lord”?
Alternate Reflection
Sharing Our Gifts Is Watchfulness for the
Lord
With the current down-turn of world economy
and global financial market one might be tempted to interpret the gospel
parable of the talents in terms of austerity measure. Some may think it is all
about how we invest our money. The readings today generally point to something deeper,
something else. Especially as we approach the end of the liturgical season. The
readings, like the parable of the 10 virgins of last Sunday point to
watchfulness and readiness for the coming of the Son of man by the way we use
our gifts. They point to acting responsibly, wisely and selflessly. They remind
us that we are all gifted people, according to our abilities. We are called to
watch for the Lord, to fear him by making good use of these gifts, sharing them
with our neighbors, especially the poor and the down-trodden.Take today’s gospel-rich man-master to be Jesus, and take the three people gifted with various talents to be each of us. What did the first two do with their talents? Without wasting time or idling around like the 5 foolish virgins of last Sunday’s reading, they worked hard multiplying their talents. In fact, unlike the third servants of today’s gospel. What did the third servant do with his talents? He left his gifts hidden in the ground, unproductive. He went about blaming everyone except himself; complaining and criticizing the master, the distributor of the talent, calling him names-horrible, and a hard man!
Like the foolish, unaccountable, unprepared virgins, he fails to grasp the nature of his responsibility. His action represents not only laziness but also lack of love for the master. I represents a disciple who is trying to play safe, a disciple not ready bear witness to the gospel at all times, to keep watch for the return of the master. He is not a missionary disciple. He says he was afraid, which is equivalent to faithlessness, lack of readiness, and lack of trust in the master, the Lord.
Genuine trust, and “fear of the Lord,” of the master according to Psalm 128, rather consists in walking the walk, walking in the ways of the Lord, ways of love, charity and forgiveness, keeping his precepts- the Torah. It consists in not sleeping but keeping awake in readiness for the day of the Lord-Yom Adonai (Amos 5; Zeph 1:14-18). On this note of the day of the Lord (Yom Adonai) St. Paul says in the second reading, “Let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober for the day of the Lord “(1 Thess 5:1-6), by using our God’s given gifts.
I believe there is no better way to challenge ourselves, to re-examine how we have used our various gifts in readiness for the day of the Lord than in imitation of the virtuous and worthy woman ('eseth yahil) extol in the first reading- book of proverbs.
This worthy woman like the biblical Ruth puts her talents to us. She brings her husband good and not evil. What a good use of her talent! She does this all the days of her life. Proverbs says, “She put hands to the distaff and her fingers ply the spindle. She reaches out hands to the poor and extends her arms to the needy. Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting, the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (prov 31:1-5).
In our various circumstances be it here in the Seminary, home or our parish communities we want to appreciate all the gifts we have been gifted with; the gifts of our parents, siblings, families, doctors and nurses, the gifts of our teachers and mentors- what we have learned from them.
We want to share these gifts with others, including the gift of our time. We want to share our gift of music, writing. We want to share the gift of our dancing. We want to share the gift of our artistry. We want to share our gifts of knowledge, listening and counselling abilities. We want to share our gift of being present for one another. Above all, we want to share our gift of love. We want to share our gift of hope. We want to share our gift of faith, mercy with people around us. This is not different watching and waiting for the Lord.
