Monday in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time, September 20, 2021

Luke 8:16-18

Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

It seems that the three sayings contained in this reading from the Gospel of St. Luke are related only in terms of things appearing and not appearing, and that they are not related in terms of an overall meaning.  We see this practice of recording the Lord’s sayings in an apparently haphazard fashion throughout the first three Gospels, especially in that of St. Matthew, who sometimes seems to write things as they occur to him rather than as a connected series.

The first saying we have is, “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lamp stand so that those who enter may see the light.”  This can be understood as Almighty God giving the gift of faith to someone.  God gives this gift not as a reward for some action on the person’s part, but as a means of drawing others to the Gospel.  Each of us who believes in God is set “on a lamp stand” — public life — in order to shine into its darkness and to light the way to the Gospel.  Each of those who are thus “enlightened” are set on a lamp stand as well.  Groups of lights on lamp stands are the various Catholic churches throughout the world and constitute “golden candlesticks” among which the Lord Jesus is said to stand: “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like to the Son of Man” (Revelation 1, 12-23).

The second saying is: “For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.”  This is a warning concerning the final judgment, particularly, and of God’s Providence, in general.  If we wait patiently, the causes of injustices are revealed even in this world.  Today, for instance, many “cold case” crimes are solved through DNA testing that could not have been done at the time these crimes were committed.  Hope had been given up that the perpetrators would ever be caught.  Surveillance of all kinds is now a regular fact in the world and this also aid in identifying criminals, although the privacy of innocent people may also be threatened by this.  But Jesus means that our own thoughts will be revealed at the end so that our intentions will be made known: “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12, 36).  Also, Revelation 20, 13 can be interpreted this way: “And the sea gave up the dead that were in it.”  This is for the establishment of justice.  The hypocrisy of the wicked will be shown in broad daylight, as well as the hidden prayers and good deeds of the just.  Sufferings that people strove to hide will be made known to all.  All that happened to us in the world will finally make sense.

The third saying is, “Take care, then, how you hear. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away.”  This is mysterious until we realize that it is about faith.  The faith of those who have it will grow stronger as a result of its exercise, especially in perseverance.  Those whose faith is weak will lose it altogether in time of tribulation: “And he that received the seed upon stony ground, is he that hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy. 

Yet it has no root, but is only for a time: and when there arises tribulation and persecution because of the word, he presently falls away” (Matthew 13, 20-21).  Those whose faith is weak do not exercise it and at best consider the Gospel merely a private philosophy that need not influence their actions.  They bury their talent, as it were: “But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money” (Matthew 25, 18).

The Lord Jesus speaks so succinctly.  The richness of even his shorter sayings so abounds that they reveal his divinity.