
Gospel according to Saint Luke 12:32-48:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.
“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
Another surprise from Christ…
Luis CASASUS President of the Idente Missionaries
Rome, August 10, 2025 | XIX Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wis 18: 6-9; Heb 1: 1-2.8-19; Lk 12: 32-48
Some of you may remember this hopeful piece of wartime news.
During the siege of Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina) in the 1990s, the city was under constant bombardment. The streets were deserted, food was scarce, and fear was part of everyday life.
Amidst the chaos, a baker named Vladimir decided to continue baking bread every morning. He did this not to sell, but to distribute it among his most affected neighbors: elderly people living alone, mothers with young children, and families without resources. Every day he exposed himself to danger, walking through streets where bullets could appear at any moment.
When asked why he risked his life, he replied: If I stop sharing my bread, I stop being human. And as long as I can give something, even in this war, I am free.
Those who received his bread felt not only physical relief, but also hope. And Vladimir, despite having almost nothing, said he had never felt more alive.
This story reminds us that serving is not always grand, but it can be deeply heroic and transformative, both for the giver and the receiver.
Even more striking is the surprise Jesus gives us today in his announcement of what he will do with his faithful servants: Going from one to another, he will serve them.
Of course, there is a ‘role reversal,’ since in first-century Jewish culture, servants served their master. But here, Jesus describes the Lord (Himself) serving His faithful servants.
This is more than an image of radical humility of divine love. It could be understood that the Lord made a special gesture by inviting the faithful servants to sit with Him at the table, but serving them ‘one by one’ is a gesture of complacency, of supreme happiness, which Christ joyfully wishes to share with those He calls friends (Jn 15:15). It is something so essential in Him, and which He can do because the faithful conduct of some servants allows Him to do so. He had already announced it: The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45).
It is clear and central to our faith that Christ offered his life in sacrifice, a sacrifice of years that culminated in the anguish of the Passion and the Cross. But today’s Gospel also allows us to understand better how serving, giving one’s life and being truly happy are linked. Indeed, Jesus’ full joy will be fully visible in heaven, but also in this world. This is true for the baker in Sarajevo, for Christ, and for all of us.
It is said that St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Franciscan priest who volunteered to take the place of a man with a family who had been selected for execution, spent the days before his execution with inexplicable peace and joy, comforting and encouraging the other prisoners.
But this happens in all cases, some more dramatic, some more striking than others. I remember a mother who was completely devoted to caring for her son, who had cerebral palsy. She and her husband literally devoted every minute of every day to him. When he died, although everyone told her how happy he would be in heaven and how she could start a new life, she soon died of grief, because no activity or the sincere love of her husband and her other two children could fill her heart.
Being able to serve can undoubtedly be a generous act, but there is nothing more fulfilling; if for any reason we stop serving, a void is created. This sometimes has a psychological explanation (for example, the depression of some retirees), but in reality, it can affect our most exquisite ecstasy, the way we approach others to serve them (even if it is just a glass of water). Sometimes we find it hard to understand, as Peter did when the Master decided to wash the disciples’ feet. But the truth is that Christ, in doing so, was as humble as he was happy, because he felt within himself the Father’s pleased smile.
May we be able to remember this when we are given a responsibility, whether seemingly great or small, for one or many human beings.
—ooOoo—
The First Reading solemnly recounts the night of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. This text not only evokes a crucial moment in the history of the Hebrew people, but also offers a profound reflection on faith, hope and the silent but decisive action of those who believe in God’s response to good deeds.
This message, although deeply religious, finds a surprising echo in some key moments in the history of science. One of these is the discovery of the smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner in the 18th century.
The Book of Wisdom tells how that night, announced in advance by Yahweh, was received by the people with confidence, in expectation of the promised salvation. The Israelites, acting in obedience and unity, performed the Passover rite in secret, while God’s judgement fell upon their oppressors. This moment of apparent fragility and silence turned out to be the starting point for their liberation. The key lay in active faith, in trust in the invisible, and in the willingness to act with collective responsibility.
At the end of the 18th century, British physician Edward Jenner observed that women who milked cows seemed immune to smallpox, a devastating disease. Based on this insight, he dared to inoculate a child with material from a cowpox pustule. It was a bold scientific gesture, made without fanfare, that marked the beginning of modern immunology. Just as the Israelites sacrificed a lamb in secret, Jenner acted discreetly, but with the conviction that he was following a true path. Both acts, though modest in appearance, were seeds of collective salvation.
Furthermore, in both the biblical text and the historical event, there is an element of moral contrast. In Scripture, the righteous trust and are delivered, while the oppressors are judged. In the case of the vaccine, we can also see a contrast between openness to the new—which made it possible to save lives—and the initial resistance of many sectors, which rejected the idea out of fear or ignorance. Just as the holy people shared risks and goods in community, the success of vaccination depended on social cooperation, on taking risks together for the greater good.
This parallel suggests that in faith as in science, and in other areas of human life, real progress and profound change come when people dare to trust, to act even in the midst of uncertainty, and to maintain an active hope. Easter night and the discovery of the vaccine share the same profound structure: a promise, a courageous action, and a liberation that reaches many.
Providence uses belief, expectation, and love, which are present in every human being, as the foundation on which to build faith, hope, and charity. This is an observation made by our Founder, Fernando Rielo, which helps us understand who we are and how the Divine Persons see us, listen to us, speak to us, and love us.
—ooOoo—
Today, in the words of Christ, we find a sentence that we cannot forget or take for granted. It also speaks deeply about who we are: Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If you want to know what really governs your life, don’t look at what you say, but look at where you invest your time, your thoughts and your energy. It reminds us that our priorities define who we are and what our life is focused on. It is a call to reflect on what we truly value and to ensure that our ‘heart’ is invested in the only thing that is truly valuable and lasting, that is, what represents God’s will at every moment.
Christ expresses this radically today, bringing together self-denial and evangelical charity in one sentence: Sell your possessions and give alms.
Let us not dwell on the global comparison between earthly goods and heavenly goods. We must place our dreams, talents and experience in God’s hands. We are usually as bad stewards of our abilities as the servant who begins to beat the servants, eat and drink and get drunk. We are also numbed by the ridiculous and fleeting treasures of our hearts, and that is why Christ says today that not all servants are awake. That is why the Holy Spirit is compelled to act in us continually and in mysterious ways. Of course, he knows us more deeply than the poor and limited vision that each of us has of ourselves and of everything that happens around us.
The Second Reading gives the examples of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah, who based their faith on the gentle impression that their actions had eternal value; they did not need to see complete, immediate, absolute results.
Here is a story that will help us remember the faith necessary to persevere when we do not clearly see everything God is doing in us:
A Chinese teenager wanted to learn about jade, the imperial stone that comes from the dragon, so he went to study with an elderly and expert teacher, known for the quality of his teachings. This teacher placed a piece of stone in the young man’s hand and told him to hold it tightly. Then he began to talk about philosophy, society, the sun, and almost everything under it. After an hour, he took the stone away and sent him home.
The procedure was repeated for weeks. The boy became frustrated: when would he talk to him about jade? But he was too polite to interrupt his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man placed a stone in his hands, the boy exclaimed instantly: That’s not jade!
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In the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Luis CASASUS
President