September 21, 2025 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reflection by Rev. Leonard N. Peterson
When the 47-year-old John Jacob Astor IV strode up the gangplank of the HMS Titanic, he was the richest man in America. In fact, he was the first American to reach multi-millionaire status, acquiring $80 million (200 billion in today’s money). Little did he know that he would never walk down that same gangplank. He would drown in the cold waters of the Atlantic on April 15, 1912, joining 1500 others who died when the Titanic sank. Only the New York Waldorf-Astoria hotel bears any connection to his name.
The operative words present here are “richest” and “money.” Fun to talk about for many people. Or to dream about with every Lottery ticket purchase. But never very far from consideration whenever the topic of one’s well-being is considered. At least for some. It becomes part of every answer to the question directed their way of “How are you doing?” Or “How are you feeling?” even if money and riches are only implied and never mentioned.
We all know it is so true that “You can’t take it with you.” We smile readily when someone says, “You never see an armored car riding behind a hearse.” But somehow so many of us at least “half believe” that maybe you can take it with you. “It” being money. Earthly financial status.
Our Lord Jesus Christ knew well “what was in man.” After all, “He shared our human nature in all things but sin,” as the Fourth Eucharistic Prayer of the Mass declares. So, He knows our temptation to forget the next life is coming.
Maybe we admire the shrewdness of that scheming servant as he knew his “pink slip” was coming. Even his master did, the very man who would become the victim of the servant’s fraud. He might rationalize that it was a kind of “payroll insurance.” That is exactly the kind of thinking that we must avoid. Still, we must be prudent about money.
Once upon a time the boss found a boy in the stockroom just standing around doing nothing. “How much do you get paid a week?” he asked the boy. The boy replied, “Fifty dollars.” Taking a fifty-dollar bill out of his wallet, the boss gave it to the boy and said, “Here, take this. Now get out of here and do not come back!” As the boy walked out the door, the boss said to the manager. “How long has that lazy kid been working for me?” “He doesn’t work for us,” answered the manager. “He just delivered a package.”
God love you and give you, His peace.
Rev. Peterson’s Reading & Gospel Summary
Reading I: Amos 8: 4-7
Amos condemns the greed, dishonesty, and hypocrisy of the wealthy merchants he knows. They defraud buyers and take advantage of the poor, while outwardly seeming to follow the Mosaic Law.
Reading II: 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Acting as Timothy’s spiritual father, Paul tells him that he has become the second link in a chain that stretches from the Apostles. He is to pass on the priestly ministry and the apostolic faith as well.
The Gospel: Luke 16:1-13, or 10-13
The Lord’s parable is all about both the urgency and the preparedness Christians need to prepare for the next world. Note that the master in the story commends his steward for his shrewdness, not his goodness. Jesus points out the folly of the Pharisees who only seek the comforts of this world.