Refuse No One the Good

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim when it is in your power to do it for him. Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once. Proverbs 3:27-28

“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.” Luke 8:16-18

Piety

Jesus, help us to hear and respond to the Word.

Study

How are we to respond to the Word of God?  The sayings in today’s Good News explain that those who hear the word must become a light to others; even the mysteries of the kingdom that have been made known to the disciples must come to light; a generous and persevering response to the word of God leads to a still more perfect response to the word.

Michael Card explains that this Gospel passage implies that “what is obvious to some is being hidden from others.”  Jesus lights the lamp of wisdom among his disciples to get them ready for the future mission.  Jesus intends that everyone – even the suspicious Pharisees and scribes – will see what Jesus is doing and hear what Jesus is saying.  However, will they all respond with equal force?

Action

Those who listen become Jesus’ true family.  To anyone who has knowledge of the way of Jesus, more knowledge will be given.  To those who refuse to listen, any scrap of knowledge will be taken away.

We have to be careful not to interpret this passage as some kind of economic windfall.  Jesus is definitely NOT talking about material possessions. Even the Sunday parable of the Desperate/Dishonest Steward was not an economic message.  Jesus is here – after all – to turn everything upside down.  Money, possessions and more are only there as a way to get people to focus on being in the right kind of relationship with each other.  That steward makes amends for his dishonest practices. 

Isn’t it ironic that we have two ears yet hear so little?  Isn’t it ironic that we have these stories presented to us year after year and still do not hear?

Maybe we think there is little modern wisdom to be gained by stories from an agrarian culture that existed two thousand years ago.  But then, think of the reading from Proverbs the next time someone asks you to give to charity.

Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim

when it is in your power to do it for him.
Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once.