Wednesday of the Thirty-third week in Ordinary Time
Book of Revelation 4,1-11.
I John, had a vision of an open door to heaven, and I heard the trumpetlike voice that had spoken to me before, saying, "Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards."
At once I was caught up in spirit. A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat
one whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones on which twenty-four elders sat, dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
In front of the throne was something that resembled a sea of glass like crystal. In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back.
The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out. Day and night they do not stop exclaiming: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come."
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down before the one who sits on the throne and worship him, who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:
"Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created."
Psalms 150(149),1-2.3-4.5-6.
Praise the LORD in his sanctuary,
Praise him in the firmament of his strength.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
Praise him for his sovereign majesty.
Praise him with the blast of the trumpet,
Praise him with lyre and harp,
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
Praise him with strings and pipe.
Praise him with sounding cymbals,
Praise him with clanging cymbals.
Let everything that has breath
Praise the LORD! Alleluia.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 19,11-28.
While people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately.
So he said, "A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, 'Engage in trade with these until I return.'
His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, 'We do not want this man to be our king.'
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said, 'Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.'
He replied, 'Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.'
Then the second came and reported, 'Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.'
And to this servant too he said, 'You, take charge of five cities.'
Then the other servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.'
He said to him, 'With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding person, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.'
And to those standing by he said, 'Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.'
But they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten gold coins.'
'I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king, bring them here and slay them before me.'"
After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
COMMENTARY
The gospel of work is found in the life and parables of Christ, in what Jesus "did and taught” (Acts 1,1). On the basis of these illuminations emanating from the Source himself, the Church has always proclaimed what we find expressed in modern terms in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council: "Just as human activity proceeds from man, so it is ordered towards man. For when a man works he not only alters things and society, he develops himself as well. He learns much, he cultivates his resources, he goes outside of himself and beyond himself. Rightly understood, this kind of growth is of greater value than any external riches which can be garnered ... Hence, the norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the divine plan and will, it should harmonize with the genuine good of the human race, and allow people as individuals and as members of society to pursue their total vocation and fulfil it" (GS 35).
Such a vision of the values of human work, or in other words such a spirituality of work, fully explains what we read in the same section with regard to the right meaning of progress: "A person is more precious for what he is than for what he has. Similarly, all that people do to obtain greater justice, wider brotherhood, and a more humane ordering of social relationships has greater worth than technical advances. For these advances can supply the material for human progress, but of themselves alone they can never actually bring it about".
This teaching on the question of progress and development - a subject that dominates present day thought - can be understood only as the fruit of a tested spirituality of human work; and it is only on the basis of such a spirituality that it can be realized and put into practice.
dailygospel.org
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