26th Sunday OT. (C)

"...To bring the good news to the poor”

 Homily for Missionary Expedition 141

Amos 6:1a.4-7; Ps145; 1 Tim 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus,

We are gathered as the People of God and as the Salesian Family, here at Valdocco, to celebrate God's inexhaustible love; he wants all human beings to be saved and come to knowledge of the Truth. This salvation and this encounter with Truth happens at every Mass, where Christ becomes present sacramentally with the power of his new life, and this is extended throughout history until the end of time through the evangelising mission carried out by the Church, and Don Bosco's Family as part of that.

We are here precisely to reaffirm our willingness to work towards the fulfilment of God's wonderful dream. Today in fact we send forth the new Salesian missionary expedition, the 141st, which is evidence of who we are in building up the Church, our commitment to the young people in the world, especially the poorest amongst them, the missionary dimension of the Salesian vocation.

We are gathered here in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, the customary commissioning point for Salesian missionaries. We entrust each and every one of our missionary brothers and sisters and our missions throughout the world to Mary.

The Word of God which we have just listened to could be summed up in one verse proclaimed by Jesus as he presents himself at Nazareth: "The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me… to bring the good news to the poor" (Lk 4:18b).

In fact, although the text from Amos and the Gospel passage from Luke clearly present the danger of wealth, of being rich, the emphasis in God's Word nevertheless is on the evangelisation of the poor.

They are the first to benefit from the Gospel. And then for us it becomes an invitation to love poverty, like Mama Margaret lived it and taught John to live it; living as poor people and giving our lives on behalf of the poor and marginalised.

According to Luke, wealth poses a great danger to a human being's salvation. Firstly because it induces spiritual shortsightedness, which prevents us from perceiving and seeking what is ultimate, the values which truly count, values which survive death; secondly because it produces a hardening of the heart which makes us insensitive to the needs of the poor, the hungry, those who thirst, the sick, those who are exploited, migrants, people excluded and marginalised; and thirdly because it makes us idolaters, slaves not of God but of money.

In the current neo-liberal context in which we live, today the parable of the rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, wining and dining every day, without giving a thought to the situation of poor Lazarus covered in sores, daring to eat the crumbs which fall from his table, takes on macro-cosmic dimensions, because there are entire sectors of humanity struggling to survive while privileged groups live amidst luxury and in vanity as Amos the prophet puts it: “Lying on ivory beds and sprawling on their divans they dine on lambs of the flock and stall-fattened veal. They bawl to the sound of the harp… drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest oil to anoint themselves, but of other's ruin they do not care at all”.

This situation is made more serious because of the unprecedented economic crisis we are experiencing. This has led to an increase in world poverty, has brought about a loss of quality of life for millions of others, has slowed development in countries causing huge suffering through unemployment and desperation.

Moved to speak to these new and complex problems, on 29 June 2009 Pope Benedict XVI published his encyclical Caritas in Veritate. As well as listing previous social teaching of the Church, the Pope was asking that, as a means of escape from today's global crisis, we invest in an evangelisation capable of responding to humanity's needs, especially the needs of the very poor, and to embark on a great work of education, given that the social question has become ever more radically one of anthropology and ethics. The entire encyclical is intended as a substantial support to education, and the formation of a new mindset and new lifestyles. Precisely for this reason,our Congregation and Salesian Family, founded by a social Saint and involved in a mission that extends to all continents, needs to know how to discover in this new encyclical a message and planning process which it cannot do without in its witness and dedication to the all-round growth of the young.

In order to change the world bent on self-destruction, he urges a new thinking, the result of evangelisation. There is urgent need for a new pattern of humankind, a new society, a new world order.

The common mindset, that of "old" people, is focused in general terms on having, on material and consumer wellbeing, earthly success, making an absolute of what is ephemeral. True ethical and cultural revolutions can be put in place by people who live – as St Paul says – "by the truth and in love" (cf Eph 4:15), nurturing reason enlightened by love, by the perception of the world and ourselves which only the heart can offer.

If God's Word today is provocative, that is likewise the case with today's social reality which it denounces. Becoming embittered by violence everywhere, be it war, gangs,delinquency, and the spiralling new scourge of terrorism, they all have their source somehow in the situation of injustice and impoverishment which haunts millions upon millions of people.

In his parable today, Jesus reveals to us the need for conversion and faith, before death irrevocably determines human destiny. There are ways of living in either selfishness or solidarity which mark r destiny at the moment of death. Jesus invites us not to live thoughtlessly, closed within ourselves, but alert to the needs of others, especially the very poor, and to act like the good Samaritan who made an approach, became a neighbour, of the man stripped by brigands who beat him up and then disappeared, leaving him half dead on the side of the road, “he bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, lifted him on his own mount and carried him to the inn and looked after him” (Lk 10: 34).

This world, this society, needs a culture of simplicity and solidarity which can make God's dream come true. As Jesus says in the Gospel, Moses and the prophets are enough to achieve this. To convert our way of thinking and transform social structures the Gospel, the Word of God addressed to mankind for its salvation, are enough.

So my dear missionaries, here is the wonderful task entrusted to you: cooperating in making the world more human through the energies of the Gospel, able to convert ways of thinking and people's hearts, and transform the warp and woof of society. Changing the world is at our fingertips. It is enough to change the world immediately around us, looking after the hungry, the exploited, the sick.

Today you are being sent from this place where Don Bosco began and developed his work. Today you are called to continue his dream, God's dream. Be missionaries of the young, bring them the good news of salvation, help them experience God's closeness and the power of his love.

May Mary Help of Christians be your mother and teacher. May she make you “humble, brave and strong”, guide your lives and make your missionary efforts fruitful. Amen.

Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, SDB

Valdocco, 26.09.’10