Amos 8:4-7 Ps 112(113):1-8 1 Tim 2:1-8 Lk 16:1-13
Amos was a shepherd from Judah who around 760 BC prophesied doom to the northern kingdom Israel, largely because of its social injustice. Israel under Jeroboam was very prosperous, but when it was overrun by Assyria 40 years later the prophet’s warnings were remembered. It was not just the ways the rich cheated the poor – inflating the currency and giving short measure. Worse was their belief that sacrifices and fasting would absolve them from God’s blame: sacrifice without justice is meaningless.
The Psalm urges praise for God at all times and in all places for he who is supreme over all stoops down to raise up the poor.
In our modern liturgies we follow all of Paul’s advice to Timothy: we lift up our hands in the traditional manner to offer prayers of petition, intercession and thanks, and we pray for secular authorities – “so that we may live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet”. We should reject false gods like riches or possessions. There is only one God, and Christ Jesus, our one High Priest, is the only mediator between us and God.
In the Gospel Jesus also warns us not to be seduced into worshipping money. Jesus says though the steward was “dishonest”, his motive was right: to gain friends who would help him later.
Psalm Response: Praise the Lord who raises the poor.
(Amos 8:4-7 Ps 112(113):1-8 1 Tim 2:1-8 Lk 16:1-13)