Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Trust, vigilance, and wise stewardship help us to advance toward perfect holiness and communion with God. Moreover, they help to build a more merciful and kinder world around us.

Gospel according to Luke 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come to serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” Peter said: “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?’ And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all of his possessions. But if that slave says to himself, “My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. That slave who knew what his master wanted but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.”
Shore of Pink Lake - Gatineau, Quebec, Canada - Peter Marshall, 2025

Reflections

There are three intertwined exhortations that today’s Gospel lays before us: trust, vigilance, and stewardship of our resources.  

“Do not be afraid” (Luke 12:32) is a greeting building trust and reassurance that Jesus often addresses his disciples with. It is somehow paradoxical that Jesus makes this statement even as he himself is being challenged and is on his way to suffer. Yet, Jesus lives in the promise of the Scriptures and the certainty of the resurrection. He is aware of the distress and the doubts that the disciples may have about God’s plan. It is comforting to hear these words repeated, “Do not be afraid,” with Jesus reaffirming that the Father’s plan will unfold in the midst of the turmoil of the world. 

The same reassurance prefaces today’s Gospel. Summer is a time when we may have more time to ponder because the daily rhythm slows down a bit. We meet people, talk to them, follow the news, and the information we gather may fill us with concern. There is so much happening in different parts of the world: Wildfires raging in parts of North America, earthquakes and tsunami warnings in parts of Asia, drone attacks in Ukraine and Russia, hunger in Gaza, snow in Australia. We may choose to be indifferent toward the plight of other people, but we cannot deny that suffering affects us all. Ups and downs and shortcomings remind us that the world is not yet in perfect state.  Even from the point of view of our narrow range of personal experience, there is so much yet to be done to achieve harmony and justice even in our closest surroundings. Jesus assures us that amidst the turmoil and uncertainty, God’s promises are sure. 

The second exhortation, to be alert and vigilant, “…be dressed and have your lamps lit” (Luke 12:35), tells us not to sink into a carefree attitude but to keep working on healthy habits, such as self-discipline, and perseverance. Jesus uses the parable of the good servant who did not know the exact time when his master was coming but yet he readied himself for the task of serving. The same way, says Jesus, the Kingdom is not a nebulous and far event, but here and now unfolding to its fullness. We are all invited to build it and to contribute to it with our resources. When we balance rest and relaxation with purposeful thinking and planning, we build our capacity to accomplish the tasks that life sets before us. 

Finally, the third exhortation, to be like “prudent managers,” is an invitation to stewardship, the responsible use of our resources. In last week’s Gospel, the rich man wanted to build a bigger barn so that he could accumulate all his treasures there and finally, rest and enjoy life. The problem was that he did not share what he had and thought that all he had belonged exclusively to him. He put his sense of security in the number of his possessions. Aiming to live a happy life, he was beset with worries. 

When our possessions are put to a good use, and we discover that we are good for something, the quantity of what we possess may not be as important as what we do with what we have—this influences the quality of our lives. Recent research in psychology confirms that if we want to live a happy life, we cannot seek happiness for the sake of happiness itself. Rather, we can aim to live so that others are happy because of our actions. That way, our inner experience of fulfillment will reflect happiness as reward for our meaningful choices. (1,2)

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that perfect happiness (or beatitude) is that what we seek for its own sake and not for the sake of something else. (3) He thought that every creature has its purpose and is not happy until it fulfills that purpose. This purpose is rooted in the creature’s nature and its contribution to the overall good of creation in a divinely ordered universe. (4) By exercising the virtues, people can advance on their journey and fulfill their mission which advances them toward their final destiny, happiness through union with God. (5) 

In Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI, based on the writing of St. Augustine, explained that the relationship with God changes and matures through an intentional seeking of a communion of human and divine will, the prerequisite of which is human freedom and responsibility to actualize what is worthwhile: 

“The love story between God and man consists in the very fact that this communion of will increases in communion of thought and sentiment, and thus our will and God’s will increasingly coincide: God’s will is no longer for me alien will, something imposed on me from without by the commandments, but it is now my own will, based on the realisation that God is in fact more deeply present to me than I am to myself.” (6)

The Catholic Church teaches that the final destiny, the communion of human and divine will culminates in a “beatific vision…in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way…and will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace and mutual communion” (CCC 1045, 7).

 Theologians have expressed it this way: “At the end of the journey is total truth (the understanding of the ultimate reason for all things), total goodness (perfect holiness and the model for all holiness) and total beatitude (infinite, unending, ecstatic, incomprehensible joy). (8) According to Saint Thomas, “…the blessed will see the essence of God.” Seeing in this case will not mean perceiving God but knowing God and relating to God personally. (8) 

The meaningful moments we bring about through our actions, either through creating something, experiencing something or through the position we take toward unavoidable suffering, give us a glimpse of hope beyond what we can grasp in concrete situations, to responding and participating in God’s plan. Advancing on this journey brings us closer to the fulfillment of what is meant for us and what is awaiting us in eternity. Carried by trust and hope, final fulfillment will result when we know “not only lovely things but the God who is loveliness itself, Who is good itself. When we know not only true things but the God who is truth itself, Who is all in all.” (8)

The Good News of today is that trust, vigilance, and wise stewardship help us to advance toward perfect holiness and communion with God. Moreover, they help to build a more merciful and kinder world around us.

References: 

  1. Travers, T. (2021). Happiness Comes from Making Others Feel Good. Psychology Today. Retrieved from: www.psychologytoday.com. Accessed: August 8, 2025. 
  2. Mauss, I. B., Tamir, M., Anderson, C. L., & Savino, N. S. (2012). Can Seeking Happiness Make People Happy? Paradoxical Effects of Valuing Happiness. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from: www.pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Accessed: August 8, 2025.
  3. Aquinas, Thomas; Mary T. Clark (2000). An Aquinas Reader: Selections from the Writings of Thomas Aquinas. Fordham University Press.
  4. Donnelly, P. J.   (1941). Saint Thomas and the Ultimate Purpose of Creation. Theological Studies Journal. Retrieved from: https://theologicalstudies.net. Accessed; August 8, 2025.
  5. Rickert, K. G. (2011). The Divine Will and Human Freedom: A Thomistic Analysis. Catholic Culture. Retrieved from: www. catholicculture.org. Accessed; August 8, 2025. 
  6. Pope Benedict XVI (2005) Deus Caritas Est. Article 17. Retrieved from: www.vatican.va. Accessed: August 8, 2025. 
  7. United Sates Conference of Catholic Bishops (2025). Catechism of the Catholic Church. Article 1045. Retrieved from: www.usccb.org. Accessed: August 8, 2025.
  8. Arnold, R. (2022). Finding perfect happiness only in God. Retrieved from: catholiccolumbus.org. Accessed: August 8, 2025.