20250921 MIGRANTS - MISSIONARY OF HOPE
21 September 2025, Sunday, 25th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Amos 8:4-7 |
I will never forget your deeds, you who trample on the needy
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
and try to suppress the poor people of the country,
you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over
so that we can sell our corn,
and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel,
by swindling and tampering with the scales,
we can buy up the poor for money,
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’
The Lord swears it by the pride of Jacob,
‘Never will I forget a single thing you have done.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 112(113):1-2,4-8 |
Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.
or
Alleluia!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.
or
Alleluia!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.
or
Alleluia!
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
Praise the Lord, who raises the poor.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading | 1 Timothy 2:1-8 |
Pray for everyone to God, who wants everyone to be saved
My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right, and will please God our saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all. He is the evidence of this, sent at the appointed time, and I have been named a herald and apostle of it and – I am telling the truth and no lie – a teacher of the faith and the truth to the pagans.
In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | 2Co8:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 16:1-13 |
You cannot be the slave of both God and money
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”
Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.”
‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.
‘And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?
‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’
MIGRANTS, MISSIONARY OF HOPE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Amos 8:4-7; Ps 113:1-2,4-8; 1 Tim 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13]
In the first reading, we read of the social injustices during the time of the prophet Amos in Israel. The rich oppressed the poor by cheating in business and trade. The rich grew richer while the poor became poorer. The Lord says, “Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country.” To cover up their sins and guilt, they tried to appear as good and law-abiding Israelites, observing the rituals and festivals. “You who say, ‘When will New Moon be over so that we can sell our corn, and the Sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?'” Indeed, the dishonest steward symbolizes those who cheat and oppress the poor for their own benefit. They are not concerned with justice or fair dealings in their work, but only with their dignity, public image, and self-interest. Hence, when the dishonest steward was exposed as irresponsible in managing his master’s estate, he said, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Beg? I would be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office, there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”
But before we condemn them, are we not also like them in many ways, whether as individuals, as a community, or as a nation? The world is in crisis today simply because the global rules of fair trade–applied equally to rich and poor, big and small nations–are no longer observed. Today, each country thinks only of itself, seeking to “make itself great again” at the expense of others. The question of free trade and assisting smaller and poorer economies is no longer considered; instead, it is all about making my country great and powerful. When each country only serves its own interests, without regard for a fairer distribution of the world’s resources, the result is greater suffering, growing inequality, and deeper injustice. Today, each country will have to scramble for survival by making bilateral deals, aligning with countries that can strengthen their economies and military might. The prospect of a renewed arms race and the development of new weapons, including nuclear arms, makes this world increasingly unsafe, heightening the risk of World War III and the devastation of the entire planet.
But this is also true on the micro level within each country. While it is natural and necessary for a nation to look after its own citizens, we cannot ignore the fact that migrants and foreign workers have contributed greatly to our growth and progress. Our country is what it is today not only because of the hard work of citizens, but also because of the contributions of migrants, itinerant laborers, and foreign workers. We should therefore be grateful to them–not only for their economic contribution but also for the cultural and spiritual richness they bring, enriching our lives and broadening our minds and hearts.
As the Holy Father, Pope Leo, reminds us in this year’s message for Migrants and Refugees, migrants are ‘missionaries of hope’. In this Jubilee Year of Hope, they have a special place in our celebration. The Holy Father invites us to reflect on the connection between hope, migration, and mission. Wars, violence, injustice, climate change, and extreme weather conditions have forced millions to leave their homelands in search of refuge. Yet, host countries–even the wealthy ones–are often reluctant to welcome them. This tendency to care only for one’s own community poses a serious threat to the common good and to solidarity with the human family. We forget too quickly that we are all interdependent for happiness, progress, and peace, as the Covid-19 pandemic clearly revealed. No country can shield itself entirely from the suffering, poverty, or instability of others.
Rather than seeing migrants as taking away our resources, we must see them as missionaries of hope. They teach us how to hope for a better world. As the Holy Father reminds us, there is a profound link between migration and hope. Migrants show us how to trust in God despite all the difficulties and obstacles they face in eking out a living to provide for their families in foreign lands. They are courageous in the face of adversity, learn fortitude and perseverance to fulfil their dreams for their family and loved ones. In a world scarred by wars, injustice, and where indifference to the suffering of our fellowmen prevail, migrants are beacons of hope. Even when they face death through war, famine, or deprivation, their struggle to live inspires us to face our own trials–trials far less severe than theirs–with great faith and resilience.
Today’s Gospel challenges us on the issue of being slaves of money and wealth. Jesus makes it clear, “No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.” We are called to love God and our fellowmen above all else. When money becomes our master, it possesses us, controls our lives, our time, our resources, our friends, and the way we look at people, and our vocation as well. Being slaves of money will cripple our lives, make us miserable, lonely, insecure, selfish and lose our relationships. But when God is our first love, we will be able to use our money as a tool, a means for building up a community of brothers and sisters with God as our Father. As the Lord said, “And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity.”
We are called to look beyond our narrow self-interests, unlike the dishonest steward. We must never forget that humanity is one family regardless of race, language, or religion. Creation and its resources belong to all. Yet today, the greatest imbalance remains: the top 1% of the world’s population owns more than 50% of global wealth, while the bottom half of humanity owns 0.75%. As Christians, we are duty-bound to share our wealth and resources with others. This is what the Lord expects of us – as the psalmist reminds us: “Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high, yet stoops from the heights to look down upon heaven and earth? From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from the dungheap he raises the poor, to set him in the company of princes, yes, with the princes of his people.”
Above all, we are called to be creative – like the dishonest steward, but in service of the poor and the marginalized. We must find new ways to integrate them into our society. This means seeing migrants not merely as contributors to our economy, but as people who enrich us through their culture and faith. They teach us to live alongside others who are different, and in doing so, we strengthen bonds of peace and fraternity, seeing them not as competitors but as co-creators in human and economic development. This is why we must see them as a divine blessing to our people. When we welcome them as brothers and sisters in Christ, and treat them with respect and dignity, we ourselves become true evangelizers. The world’s resources are more than sufficient for everyone, if only we learn to share and to work together for the good of all.
Finally, let us heed St Paul’s exhortation to pray for all, especially for political leaders, that they may govern with compassion toward migrants and foreign workers: “My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet.” Political leaders, while caring for their own citizens, must also extend hospitality to those who live and work among us. Migrants too need proper rest, recreation, and community. Let us welcome them, and let us learn from them how to hope.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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