25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 21, 2025 (5:30pm, 8:00am, 10:00am)
St. James Cathedral, Seattle
 
My friends, in today’s gospel Jesus continues to teach his disciples as he makes his way to Jerusalem. This long journey in our scriptures began back in July, and Jesus has shared many hard sayings over these past weeks about the nature of discipleship and what our priorities need to look like if we are going to be able to follow him. In today’s passage we have a reflection on the disciple’s relationship with money and wealth.
 
The faithful disciple, Jesus tells us in today’s parable, is one who is prudent in navigating the world, always keeping the service of God and what leads to our eternal dwelling, as the top priority. For we cannot serve two masters, Jesus says. We cannot be at the service of God and money. That is not to say that wealthy people cannot be good disciples. They can and are. What Jesus cautions against is having misplaced priorities in which wealth is more important than God.
 
That was the message of the prophet Amos centuries before Jesus. This prophet of Judah was sent north to prophesy to Israel about its many sins against the poor. In our text today we can see how the obsession with wealth had so clouded people’s judgment that they were using every means possible to tip the scales in favor of those who were the “haves” at the expense of the “have nots.”
 
“Let’s get the Sabbath over,” they say, “so that we can start selling again.”
 
The words of the Prophet Amos, so long ago, are sobering words for us today. “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land…God will never forget what you have done!”
 
As a Church, we strive heed the prophet’s words and reach out in God’s name to the poor who are trampled in our day. We are called to reach out as individual Christians, as well as a community of faith. Institutionally we have organizations in place, like our local St. Vincent de Paul Society, and our Cathedral Kitchen and the Solanus Casey Center that extend the Church’s care, our care, for the poor and the vulnerable among us.
 
As we prayed in our Psalm response, “Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.” May we be instruments of God’s lifting up the poor in our day.
 
To lift up the poor directly, and to change structures that create poverty, Jesus calls us to be careful about serving two masters. We need to resist the temptation to worship wealth. If we have been entrusted with financial resources, then we are called to be as resourceful as possible in using those resources to raise up those who are in need.
 
In the parable of the steward, Jesus commends the steward, not for being dishonest and squandering his master’s property, but for being prudent. Such self-serving prudence shows a willingness to be creative and resourceful in order to survive.
 
You and I are called to be prudent, and creative and resourceful so that others may survive. We are called to use the resources entrusted to us to provide for our needs, the needs of our family, and the needs of the poor.
 
If we are only creative and resourceful for ourselves and our family, and the needs of the poor are ignored, then it is hard to call ourselves faithful stewards of the gifts God has given us.
 
Over these past months as we have reflected on who we are as a parish family, and most recently in our listening sessions, care for the poor has been one of the central themes in our conversations. One of the elements that unites us as the parishes of St. James Cathedral, Immaculate Conception and Christ Our Hope, is our shared commitment to keep those who are poor at the forefront of our pastoral ministry and our life together as people of faith.
 
In my brief time as pastor here in our Parish Family, it is clear that we model a different approach from the approach of the contemporary world. We have responded to Jesus’ call in the gospel to use whatever financial resources we have to serve God through our outreach to those in need.
 
What a privilege it is for me to be here with you as your pastor, and as a fellow Christian, witnessing to these well-ordered priorities. And while I may be here, standing before you preaching this day, it is you who preach the gospel with your lives through your care for those in need day in and day out. You enable that ministry to happen through your financial support and through your direct involvement in the ministry.
 
Thank you for your witness to the gospel!
 
As we prepare to gather around the Table of the Eucharist, may God continue to nourish and strengthen all of us for this work of preaching and living the gospel. And may our sharing in the body and blood of the Lord empower us to work untiringly for all who are in need.

Father Gary F. Lazzeroni, Pastor