Texts taken from the Missal “On Your Word” September-October 2022
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
3rd week of the psalter
FIRST READING
From the Book of the Prophet Habakkuk (Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4)
How long, O Lord, shall I cry for help and you will not listen, shall I cry out to you, “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity and look upon oppression? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict arises. The Lord answered me and said: “Write down the vision and inscribe it clearly on tablets, so that it can be read readily. For the vision is a witness to an appointed time; it speaks of a deadline and does not lie. If it delays, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not be late. See, the rash one has no upright soul, but the just one will live by faith.” – The Word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
The prophet Habakkuk shows a profound sensitivity to the problem of evil. He asks God to explain his strange way of governing the world: why does he allow a ruthless and fierce people to oppress the inhabitants of Israel? Are the latter perhaps worse than those who have invaded their land? The righteous suffer as though they were sinners! And here arises the eternal question of humanity in every age: why does evil prevail over good? Why do injustices spread? We often ask ourselves the same question. God's answer is clear: faith is the only way to understand what happens. God invites Habakkuk and each of us to preserve our faith and trust. This will help us clearly and certainly recognize God's presence in who we are and in the events of our lives. God does not promise us solutions, but asks for an unconditional commitment to his love; he asks for the courage to change our mindset and accept the scandal of evil, making it an opportunity for radical conversion. Faith is a gift from God, but a gift that awaits our free response.
SECOND READING
From the Second Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to Timothy (2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14)
My child, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and prudence. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord or of me, who am imprisoned for his sake; but with the strength that comes from God, suffer with me for the Gospel. Take as your model the sound teaching you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, the precious treasure entrusted to you. – The Word of God.
Commentary on the second reading
In this second and final letter that the apostle Paul writes from prison to Timothy, his faithful companion on many journeys, he urges him to guard the precious treasure entrusted to him through the Holy Spirit: the irreplaceable task of continuing to evangelize. Indeed, it is through the witness of faith and preaching that the proclamation of the Gospel has reached us and we have received an invaluable treasure: the word of God. He gave us his Word so that we might make it bear fruit. Pope Francis also reminds us in one of his homilies: “We too, disciples of today, are called to bear witness, to give an account of our faith. Faced with such a demanding task and thinking of our weaknesses, we feel inadequate, just as the Apostles surely did. But we must not be discouraged, remembering the words Jesus addressed to them: ‘I am with you always, until the end of the world.’ What a great and consoling promise Jesus has made to us!”
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 17:5-10)
At that time, the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Who among you, if you have a servant plowing or tending sheep, would say to him when he returns from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink afterward’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’” – The Word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel of the day
Faith is nothing other than a matter of trust: when we know that someone is trustworthy, we can do nothing but place our confidence in them. Trusting God simply means believing that he loves us, that he is good, and that he helps us. The problem is that, in our smallness, we trust our friends, the bank, the government, social media, and the mass media more than we trust God and his Word. In John 15:5, Jesus says that without him we can do nothing. Unfortunately, many people go to church and listen to what they should do, but then, when they return home, try to accomplish it through their own strength, only to feel frustrated and tell God that they are trying, but without involving him. God wants us to put him first in our lives. He wants us to place our trust in him at every moment and in everything. Let us behave like little children and turn to God, saying: “Lord, I do not want to live relying on my own strength. I want to trust you. When I do not know what to do, I will trust you. When I do not understand the reason for what happens, I will trust you. With your help, I will do my part, and I know that you will take care of everything else.”
