21/09/2025
HOMILY FOR 25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
BY FR. ANTHONY ADETAYO
Have you ever been attacked by armed robbers before? The most notorious ones among them are known for their tricks and intelligence. People like Shina Rambo and Lawrence Nomayagbon Anini were dreaded all over Nigeria for their ability to physically and openly confront security operational efforts. Today, methods are multiplying in geometrical progression. They manipulate vital information and hack peoples’ account through cyber fraud. Some of them dress like pregnant women to seek for assistance beside a road just for you to realize soon that the application of your car brake is the beginning of their attack. Some don’t run about on the road but sit down in office and provide gun and ammunitions to those on the field. This is on the first note. Brothers and sisters, our readings from Amos, Paul, and Luke are a mirror for our lives in Nigeria, giving us four practical lessons on fighting injustice and using the power of intercession.
LESSONS
1. Fighting Injustice: The Amos Challenge
Amos calls out leaders who cheat the poor, saying, "Hear this, you who trample on the needy... You use false balances, and you sell the sweepings of the wheat" (Amos 8:4-6). This is a direct challenge to the evil in Nigerian leadership. The Church, in Gaudium et Spes, says we must fight for justice, as "the joys and hopes... of the poor... are the joys and hopes... of the followers of Christ" (No. 1). We cannot be silent in the face of corruption; our faith demands we act. As Proverbs 29:2 says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn."
2. Use the Saints for Intercession
Paul urges us to pray for leaders: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people for kings and all those in authority" (1 Timothy 2:1-2). This is not for their success in evil, but for their conversion and for God's will to be done. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2634) says intercession is praying as Jesus did. Our prayers can move mountains and transform hearts. As Jeremiah 29:7 commands, we are to "pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." This is why we must ask St. Anthony, St. Rita, St. Jude, St. Benedicta etc to all pray for us.
3. Be Shrewd as Citizens: Using Our Talents
Jesus praises the shrewdness of the dishonest manager: "The children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the children of the light" (Luke 16:8). This teaches us to be intentional and resourceful in our fight against evil. We must use our God-given talents, our knowledge, voices, and votes to bring about change. The Church's Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church reminds us we are stewards of these gifts. We should use them to build God's kingdom, just as the servant in the Parable of the Talents was rewarded for using what he was given (Matthew 25:21).
4. You cannot serve two masters
Jesus states plainly: "You cannot serve both God and mammon" (Luke 16:13). This is a warning against the inordinate love of riches that plagues our leaders. Our primary loyalty must be to God. The Catechism (No. 2536) warns against this "inordinate love of riches," which is the root of much evil. Our ultimate choice is to serve God by serving others, and as Psalm 16:8 says, "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken."
May God bles you always!
Happy Sunday
