The news we hear, read and see on television right now is anything but consoling: a military offensive against a faceless adversary, massive layoffs and retrenchment in many areas of our economy, and steep drops in our financial markets. Do the readings from today’s liturgy speak to us in a way that invites us to think about our response to these events?

The reading that is the easiest to apply is the reading from the First Letter to Timothy which reminds us to pray intensely, with "supplications, prayers, petitions and thanksgivings ... for all in authority, that we may live a tranquil life." And we are reminded that God wills this tranquil life and salvation for everyone and so we pray for the needs of all people.

The other two readings are perhaps a bit more challenging because they ask us to act, not only to pray. The prophet Amos is looking at a situation in which little attention is being given to the most needy in the country. Merchants only want the religious holydays to end so that they can return to their exploitation of the poor. They observe Sabbath and the holydays but practice injustice. None of us, surely, is guilty of cheating by putting less in a bottle than is on the label, nor of tampering with the weights of a balance. But, how much do we examine the structures of business in which we do engage to see how they help or hinder those in less fortunate economic circumstances? Do we profit from the existence of sweatshops in our country and in other countries to purchase clothes at a lower cost? Do we benefit by the maquiladoras in Mexico to produce low cost goods for us?

The steward, or business manager, in today’s gospel found a way to help himself by alleviating the lives of those in debt and to get even with his boss, the wealthy owner. The business manager’s job, at the time of Jesus, was to loan goods to those in need and to charge as much as possible in repayment, usually 100% interest on the loan. What this fellow does then, to ensure his future, is to cut some of the interest owed to the wealthy owner. The grateful debtors will help him out. The odd thing about this story is the reaction of the owner who, instead of retaliating, praises the manager for his shrewdness.

Jesus comments on the parable saying: "The children of this age are a lot shrewder in dealing with their own kind," (with those whose lives are controlled by mammon, that is, excessive wealth) "than are the children of light" (those who are following Jesus), unless the children of light "store up treasures in heaven" by sharing their wealth with the poor. You cannot serve God and be enslaved by material goods, by wealth. You cannot be enslaved by an attitude towards wealth which neither shares what is owned nor works to change the unequal access to a wage that would be sufficient for a dignified life.

This section of Luke’s gospel ends with next Sunday’s gospel, the story of Dives and Lazarus; the story of the rich man who seemingly did nothing against Lazarus but ignored his situation of dire poverty. To go through life unconscious of others needs; to not have as a regular practice the examination of spending habits so that unnecessary wealth can be shared with those in need is to be enslaved to mammon.

So, what response is asked of us to the events of these past weeks? The most immediate one: to pray for the victims and their relatives and friends, to pray for the government and military leaders of our country that they analyze more deeply the causes of so much hatred of the United States by groups in many countries, that they do not fall into the trap of fighting violence with the methods of those who attacked us and which we rightly condemn. In addition to insistent prayer, share some of your wealth by contributing to the various funds being established to care for those who suffered from the attacks.