19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 10, 2025
Do not be afraid, for God has given us the Kingdom. However, much will be required of the person entrusted with much.
Luke 12: 32–48
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
Preparation / Centering
If done in a group setting, the prompts are read aloud by the leader; otherwise a silent meditation.
Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025
Presence of God:
Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you.
[1-2 minutes of silence]
Freedom:
Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love.
[1-2 minutes of silence]
Consciousness:
Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life.
[2-3 minutes of silence]
Opening Prayer
Jesus, help me to remember where my real treasure lies. Help me move my focus off material security, security based n human relationships alone, even personal security, all of which can be fleeting. Help me to avoid being distracted by worries about the future, regrets about the past; help me to see clearly where my heart lies—with you. Keep my heart and soul in readiness for your message. Help me to trust in your immutable goodness. Give me gratitude and honesty.
Companions for the Journey
From First Impressions. A service of the Southern Dominican Province:
Bear with me for a moment, for we need to pay extra attention to the structure of today’s gospel. This will help our preparation strategy and may simplify our message. Today’s lectionary selection is more complex than in previous weeks and is a preaching challenge. This week we don’t have a neat focused package, for example, a parable or a miracle story. Instead the passage is in pieces. The first section (vv. 32-34) carries over and concludes a previous discussion in Luke on possessions. We heard part of it in last Sunday’s parable of the rich fool and his greed (12:13-21). The section right after that is about anxiety and possessions, but we skipped over it in the lectionary’s Sunday sequence. It concludes with the first three verses of today’s reading. After these opening verses, the focus shifts to the teaching on preparedness and Jesus’ return.
Remember the context. Jesus has already said that he does not want us preoccupied by fear and anxiety in fulfilling our daily needs. While the world presumes that possessions can guarantee us a secure future, Jesus says such concerns will not really help in daily life, will not “add a moment to our life span” (v. 25). God cares for the needy and will provide for them. But how? Are we being unrealistic and naive expecting God to take care of those in need? No, because we are a community. We live in a life-partnership and those who have must provide not only for themselves, but for those who have not. So, in the opening of today’s selection we are asked to sell our belongings and give alms. (As Raymond Brown comments, “Sell your possessions and give alms is very Lucan in its outlook.”) God helps others through the care we give to one another. We also live in a God-partnership. With our sights set on God’s reign, which is a gift to us from a gracious God, other needs should fall into place. We, in the meantime, must realize that our true treasure is within, where lies the “inexhaustible treasure that no thief can reach, nor moth destroy.”
The second part of today’s passage, beginning with verse 35, has to do with being prepared for the Lord’s coming. Recall where we are at this moment of Luke’s gospel. Beginning with 9:51, Jesus has turned his face to Jerusalem where he will be crushed by evil. This decision is now directing the narrative and enters in some way into moments along the road to Jerusalem. Luke’s community needed to be reminded: though Jesus seems to be gone and things were going poorly for his community, nevertheless, he is with us now and he will return. This reminder is important. If the disciple were to look around at the world, with all its ambiguities and outright injustices and suffering, one might ask, “Who’s in charge here anyway?” Based on today’s passage, Jesus would invite us to believe that our present and future destiny are in our loving Parent’s (“Your Father’s”) hands. This parental God is gifting the “little flock” with the fullest life, the really essential life, the “reign of God.” (“Your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”)
The first disciples were mired in the present moment. Most were poor. Like their contemporaries, they were living from day to day in a harsh world. (The cruel treatment of the servant in charge in the parable gives the reader a sense of the harsh realities of the world in which Jesus lived and from which he drew his stories.) And they were suffering. They may have been so absorbed in their present distress that they couldn’t look up to envision anything different in their future. Believing in Jesus’ return would help put daily life in perspective. The community faced daily struggle, persecution and the passing of its members, without seeing the victory of their faith. Nevertheless, Luke is telling them that the Lord will return. In the light of this hope, early Christians could look at their lives through the lens of expectation. He will come again.
If that is so, the seeming victories in modern society, especially in the first world, its pride, accomplishments and privileges for the few, are illusionary and temporary. The powerful and rich seem triumphant. Nevertheless the caring community of Jesus is called to be less anxious about its own welfare and more concerned about those in need. The comfortable and the competent are the ones who are really on shaky and insecure footing. For with the Lord’s return, their powerful rule will be revealed for the illusion it is. Jesus likens his return to a thief’s breaking into a house. It will come as a complete surprise to those not prepared for it, to those living in false security and distracted about other things.
While we wait, we servants have been put in charge, given responsibility. Our gaze isn’t distracted by a restless search for more possessions. (Remember the teaching last week on greed?) We realize that what we really need has been given us free of charge. “Don’t be afraid any longer little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the reign of God.” Freed from anxiety, even the striving we thought we had to do to gain God’s pleasure, we can turn our attention elsewhere and tend to the servants’ real concern—the care of the household. We attend diligently to those who suffer, are unloved, undergo injustice and who need guidance in learning the ways of God’s household. Remembering Jesus’ promise to return, also empowers the disciple in the struggles each of us face. Guided by today’s Word, we remember that even defeat is not the last word. It wasn’t for Jesus in Jerusalem and it won’t be for us who follow him there.
Are we so worn down by present concerns and stresses that we see little possibilities for the future? We conclude, things are the way they are and little feels like it can change. Can anyone break the cycle of daily routine that makes life such a drudgery? For example, there’s the “sandwich generation,” overworked parents who are squeezed in the middle by constant concerns for both their children and their elderly parents. A recent study found working mothers as the most stressed members of our society: sleep deprived, trying to balance both home and work schedules. What does this passage of expected return (and relief!) mean to them?... That the daily and necessary labors have meaning..... That the responsibilities that ask fidelity and perseverance are the very tasks that are in accord “with the master’s will”—as the parable puts it. We were cautioned previously about greed. But for these struggling servants, greed is not their concern as they try to remain faithful in the “second and third watch” of their stewardship. Not losing hope and seeing what they are doing as a form of discipleship might be more the issue for these hard working nuturers.
There are other servants, “further on down the road,” who also are called to keep vigilance in their discipleship. They are an older generation with different responsibilities, called to discipleship at another stage of their lives. I had dinner recently with a retired couple, with 35 grandchildren. They were still doing what they were doing 5 years ago when last I saw them—being faithful to their Christian calling. They attend church frequently; he is a eucharistic minster, she a lector. They visit a couple of shut-ins, older parishioners who can’t get to church too often. He belongs to a meditation group, she presides at weekly communion services. They continue their involvement in social issues: working to get local corporations to clean up groundwater pollution in their neighborhood and trying to close the School of the Americas in Georgia. Regardless of their age, they call themselves “involved disciples.” They say they have “widened the tent” of the Lord’s work. They don’t have to worry about the hour the Lord returns, as the figure has it, they have been faithful for the much that has been entrusted to them.
These parables are not meant to be an escape clause. We cannot shirk our responsibility as disciples with our gaze fixed on some future return of Jesus. “All will be taken care of in the next life.” Rather, we are called to tend to what is not well in this life. Jesus’ strong reminder that he will return like a thief who catches the unprepared, should keep us on our toes, focused on what occupied Jesus’ attention while he walked among us: healing the sick, welcoming strangers, eating with outcasts and forgiving wrongs done against us. We cannot succumb to a dualism that focuses on our destiny with God, while the current distress of the world God created in love goes unaddressed.
Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today’s session…
Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.
Living the Good News
What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?
Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:
Reflection Questions
Meditations
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:
I read Mark 10:1-22 (the man with great wealth). I imagine that I am the man who approaches Jesus with a question: ”What do I do to earn eternal life?” Am I sincere? Then I imagine His response to me: (keep the commandments). At that point, I look around and see all of His disciples watching this exchange. How do I feel? Can I honestly say, for example, that I have faithfully kept all of the commandments, which are telling me what NOT to do? But what a challenge when Jesus faces me with a challenge to go beyond avoiding sin, but to do something radical, something that would change my live forever! When Jesus goes a step further and tells me to sell all that I have, give the proceeds to the poor and follow Him, how do I respond? Why do I respond the way that I do? What attachments (is it money, family ties, work undone or something else) might hinder me in giving up everything to follow Jesus? What are my emotions at this point? I speak to Jesus about my inability to commit the whole way, and maybe ask for the strength to do a little bit more than I am doing. And I remember that Jesus loves me, no matter what choices I make.
A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:
Instead of merely lamenting the state of our culture’s moral decay, in a global indictment, pick just one way in which you have been negatively influenced by the values of contemporary culture (Remember, not everything in contemporary culture is bad or depraved). Resolve to choose the dictates of Christ rather than the dictates of society. At the end of the week, reflect on your success or failure in this endeavor. Have you tightened up any lose ends of your life?
Poetic Reflection:
Read the following poem by Mary Oliver. What are her priorities in this life?
“Messenger”
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
Poetic Reflection:
“In The Evening We Shall Be Examined On Love”
-St. John of the CrossAnd it won’t be multiple choice,
though some of us would prefer it that way.
Neither will it be essay, which tempts us to run on
when we should be sticking to the point, if not together.
In the evening there shall be implications
our fear will turn to complications. No cheating,
we’ll be told and we’ll try to figure the cost of being true
to ourselves. In the evening when the sky has turned
that certain blue, blue of exam books, blue of no more
daily evasions, we shall climb the hill as the light empties
and park our tired bodies on a bench above the city
and try to fill in the blanks. And we won’t be tested
like defendants on trial, cross-examined
till one of us breaks down, guilty as charged. No,
in the evening, after the day has refused to testify,
we shall be examined on love like students
who don’t even recall signing up for the course
and now must take their orals, forced to speak for once
from the heart and not off the top of their heads.
And when the evening is over and it’s late,
the student body asleep, even the great teachers
retired for the night, we shall stay up
and run back over the questions, each in our own way:
what’s true, what’s false, what unknown quantity
will balance the equation, what it would mean years from now
to look back and know
we did not fail.—Thomas Centolella (from Lights & Mysteries)
Closing Prayer
“A Story that will save us”
Tell us a story that will save us (and that will have been enough) all the great songs have been prayed save only one Tell us a story that will save us Go down Lord, & bring us home May our promises free us not chain us May what we desire fill us not entrap us May those persons we love finish us not bind us Go down Lord, & bring us home You are our history, Lord We neither begin nor end outside you May you be for us not weapon, not answer, but cause of peace May our questions show us not division but the smallness of human answers. Go down, Lord & bring us home May our words create Not destroy May our hands nurture Not break May our dreams lead and encourage us Not trap us in despair Go down, Lord & bring us home We are anxious about many things We are lost in many ways Go down, Lord & bring us home.
—Rev. Ed Ingebretzen, S.J.