Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
– Season of Creation 3 September 21st – Luke 16:1-13
By Róisín Alexander-Pye (Laudato Si’ Officer, Trócaire and Laudato Si Movement)
In our gospel today we have a manager who has squandered the master’s property. He is given a chance to take action, and he tries to address this in the way he collects debts and manages the property from then on. It’s not perfect, but he recognizes his faults and seeks to redress this. There are many parallels with our inheritance of the earth, and how we have not been good stewards. The science is clear; our world is warming due to human activity giving rise to drought, famine, devastating wildfires, extreme weather events, sea level rise and the displacement of millions of people.
This challenging gospel comes within the context of the Season of Creation, when Christians unite around the world to pray for our common home, the planet that Creator God has gifted us with. The theme this year for the Season of Creation is “Peace with Creation” using Isaiah 32:14-18. The symbol depicts a “garden of peace” in which a spirit of justice will create safe resting places and people can dwell in peace. This gives us a vision of justice and peace that opens the possibility of flourishing, a way of life that God desires for all creatures, human and of the natural world.
The manager in our gospel didn’t run and bury his head in the sand in the face of the problem. He responded and gave his best effort to look after the resources. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical, he invites us to respond in hope and action. Pope Francis was quite clear in Laudato Si’ that the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth are bound together and must both be addressed; the environment is not a cause on its own, and needs to be addressed within a whole integrated framework, which we call “integral ecology” where social, political, economic systems all work towards a restoration (and deep peace) of all things in creation. Truly, there is much work to be done!
How do we help each other flourish, create conditions for peace and justice? It can be as simple as making time to listen to those in our family, to neighbours and community. It can be an offering of our gifts and talents in service of others, to build each other up and create space for peace. In listening to the signs of the times, are there ways we can change our lifestyle to a slower gear, to notice the beauty around us, to hand the next generation a local space in a slightly better shape, less polluted and more cared for?
As we respond to the challenges facing us, we help build up communities of care, spaces of peace and rest where all creatures thrive. Think of the way that attention to creating good nesting habitats has helped the corncrake return and breed on Tory Island for example, and of the many instances of parishes encouraging biodiversity by not mowing in May or indeed all summer, to allow the insect population to find homes, breed and flourish. Each small action contributes to a restoration of justice and building up an interconnected web of living things contributing to a healthier planet, a healthier world for all.
“Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river & mother earth.” (LS, 92)
