NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
10 AUGUST 2025
Jesus responds to his disciples, to his “little
flock,” because they are afraid. He
turns their attention away from the world’s concerns and encourages them to
focus on a treasure that is permanent and cannot be taken away. Our first reading from the Book of Exodus
gives an example of God’s faithfulness.
God promised the Israelites that he would free them from slavery in
Egypt and give them a Promised Land. It
took them forty years, with many difficulties and trials. But they kept their eyes fixed on that
treasure and by faith finally achieved it.
Our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews gives the example of
Abraham. God had promised him the
treasure of his own land and numerous descendants. In faith, Abraham left his homeland and
settled in the land that God had promised.
In faith, he never lost sight of the promise of many descendants, even
though both he and Sarah were well beyond childbearing age. In faith, he continued to trust the treasure of
descendants that God had promised, even when obeying God’s instruction to
sacrifice his only son seemed crazy.
Jesus encourages his little flock to
maintain that same hope. He has been
teaching them that he would be rejected by the religious leaders and be put to
death on a cross. He tells them to keep
their eyes on the treasure of a resurrected life that cannot be destroyed. As the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, Isaac was
only a symbol of what would happen in Jesus Christ. Unlike Isaac, Jesus would actually give his
life in sacrifice, promising that those who die with him will also rise with
him. Even when Jesus will be taken from
his little flock, they cannot be discouraged.
They must wait in joyful hope for the treasure that awaits them.
Jesus gives three examples of how
faithful people prepare for the treasure promised them, especially during uncertain
times. He gives as his first example servants
preparing for a master to return from a long journey. At the end of time, or at the end of our
individual lives, we can maintain confidence in the Lord by living as faithful
servants. Instead of living in fear and
dread, we are expected to be good servants, good stewards. We prepare by engaging in prayer, serving the
poor and those who depend on our help, and welcoming those who come into our
midst. If we prepare like humble
servants, then we can expect the master to do for us exactly what he had done
at the Last Supper. He will sit us down
at table, wait on us, and wash our feet, as he washed the feet of his
disciples.
The second example is that of a
prepared householder. We do not know the
time of the Lord’s coming either at the end of time and at the end of our lives. But he will come like a good thief. The good thief will look for the many ways we
are active in building up the Kingdom of God, even in the midst of so much
discouragement and opposition.
Third, he calls us to be faithful
people. Instead of sitting around
worrying about so many things out of our control, we need to be faithful in
pursuing our responsibilities. Parents
are most faithful when they carefully attend to the growth of their
children. Parishioners are most faithful
when we continue to pray together, serve each other’s needs, and continue to
meet the needs of those who come to us from the margins of society. We have work to do with the parish, friends,
family, community, and where we work.
Like Abraham, like the Israelites in
the desert, and like Jesus himself, we must maintain the virtue of hope. Pope Francis knew what he was talking about
when he assigned that virtue to this Jubilee Year. In a world which disappoints us and
frustrates us in so many ways, we can continue our journey to the new and
eternal Jerusalem if we maintain the virtue of hope in our lives. Faith is indeed the realization of what is
hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
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