NINETEENTH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME

Au= gust 12, 2007

Our God is faithful to his promises. He fulfils what he promises. This can be seen throughout the history of the salvation of mankind.

We Christians are quite aware that the Lord has assured us of his salvation. This means that we live in an atti= tude of expectation. In the gospel, Jesus wants to clarify this attitude through four examples that will foster understanding. Each of the pa= rables brings out the nature of Christian expectations. We have the image of the treasure = in heaven; the image of the servants who are awaiting their master’s ret= urn; the image of the burglar who comes when he is not expected; and the image of the faithful and the unfaithful stewards.

These parables bid us to be expectant and ready. It is qu= ite true that we shall be meeting the Lord at the end of our life; this is certainly the most important of His comings, so it is necessary to be found ready and well prepared to receive the salvation He brings. We have to set our hearts upon hea= venly treasure so that we may not be taken by surprise.

Sometimes we are tempted to g= et discouraged as we anxiously wait for the fulfillment of the promises of liberation and peace proclaimed by Jesus, for they never seem to take place. Wars, oppression, exploitation, corruption, and other injustices continue unabated all over t= he world. This is the time that = our faith is being tested. This i= s when we must continue to believe like Abraham and Sarah who never doubted that t= he Lord would fulfill what he promised. We need to have faith, for only faith can guarantee the blessings th= at we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that at present remain uns= een.

We need to take a lesson from= the first reading. Whenever the c= hosen people of God were in trouble or oppressed by foreign powers, they looked b= ack and meditated on their past history to discover once again how God had alwa= ys protected them and freed them from all types of slavery. That gave them courage and helped = them to face the afflictions of the present and hope for the future with renewed= vigor. This is the reason why they had de= cided to meet every year to celebrate during the night of Passover these glorious events. When they reflected o= n what God had done for them, their hearts were filled with the same hope and trus= t as the hearts of their fathers.

We Christians have a similar event we recall every Sunday. It is the Eucharist. In the Euchari= st, God has manifested his whole love and fidelity. By giving us his Son, he has told = us how great his love for us is. By raising Christ from the dead, he has assured us eternal life.

After celebrating the Euchari= st, our hearts should be filled with hope and trust in the fulfillment of God’s promises.