Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Good Stewards
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. For Paul, the greatest sign of the gratuitous love of God is the cross. He exhorts his Philippians once more not to let themselves be misled by the Judaizers but to stand firm in the Lord.
Gospel. Whatever the unknown context of today’s parable may have been, the central thought of Jesus’ words seems to be this: Much has been entrusted to us, and we will have to give an account for it to God. We must act responsibly, keeping our goal in mind: God and our neighbour. Let us be people who try to know where we are going and what we are doing.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
you have made us responsible with you
for many persons and things:
for ourselves, for other people,
for the future of this world.
May we be good stewards
of all you have entrusted to us.
Help us to use our talents wisely and well
in the service of all that is good,
always inspired by faith
and living in the love
of Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Paul’s Example
Unite in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who walk according to our way of life.
For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. I have told you this many times, and now I say it with tears:
they are headed for destruction; their stomachs are their gods, and they are proud of what should be their shame. They only think about earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for the Savior from there, Jesus Christ, the Lord.
He will transform our humble bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, you are my glory and crown; be steadfast in the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
At another time, Jesus told his disciples:
“There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him because of fraudulent service.
He summoned the steward and asked him:
‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to give an account of your service, for it is about to be terminated.’
The steward thought to himself, ‘What am I supposed to do now? My master will definitely fire me. I am not strong enough to do hard labor, and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I will do: I must ensure that when I am dismissed, there will be people who will welcome me into their homes.’
So he called his master’s debtors, one by one. He asked the first debtor:
‘How much do you owe my master?’
The reply was:
‘A hundred jars of oil.’
The steward said:
‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write fifty.’
To the second debtor, he asked the same question:
‘How much do you owe?’
The answer was:
‘A hundred measures of wheat.’
Then the steward said:
‘Take your bill and write eighty.’
The master praised the dishonest steward for his sharpness, because the people of this world are often more clever at handling their own generation than are the people of light.
Prayers of the Faithful
– For the Church, that it may be a serving Church and a Church of the poor, bearing witness to God’s gratuitousness as a living parable of sharing, we pray:
– For those in positions of responsibility in politics, finances and the economy, that honesty, justice and concern for the good of all may guide their decisions and actions, we pray:
– For those who live by the work of their hands, that people may recognize their dignity and the service they render to all, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these gifts we bring before you
our toil and care,
with the aspirations and sufferings
of people far and near.
Let us always entrust to you everything
for which you have made us responsible,
not to refuse our task but to ask you to give us
the patience and the strength
with your help to bring everything to a good end.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we are but weak and timid
and yet we know that you expect much of us.
Open our hearts to the bold Spirit
of Jesus, your Son,
that in us and through us he may bring to a good end
all you have begun in us
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Blessing
God has entrusted much to us to be thankful for: our talents, our friends and relatives, other people, even nature. Let us care for everything entrusted to us. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Priorities in life are born with consequences
Luke 16:1-8
All of us, at least once in our lives, have had the experience of doing things that are now irreversible. How should one live in the face of something that cannot be changed?
A life without vision will go without direction and will land up in eventual destruction. Vision in life is a dream of God for all. Identification and attention on your vision decides the way you relate with time, space, opportunities and people around you. Vision is realised by a careful execution of choices in life. Fortune or misfortune is revealed by the consequence of a choice once made. When you lift one side of the pole, the other side is lifted along. No matter what, consequence needs acceptance while choice can be altered. At the bottom line, we are what our choices are and choices show our priorities in life.
An opportunist will use everything and everyone in life to reach one’s end whereas a visionary will dedicate one’s life to impact and empower the lives around. Jack Canfield says, ‘many people don't plan their lives as much as they plan their vacations’. Today’s gospel presents us a steward who made his choices with fore-sightedness. In time of crisis of preference, the steward prioritised relationship to possession. The existence of relationship can bring in establishment of possession and vice versa too. But the former is lasting while the latter is passing. “It is an invitation to know how to transform goods and riches into relationships, because people are worth more than things and count more than the wealth possessed”, says Pope Francis. In fact, failure to realize the fact that every human being is precious is the cause of all social ills.
All my actions do carry with them their own consequence. One can only control the action that are left in his hand and the consequence is by-product of the action, which is out of control. So, have I grown aware of the impending consequence of my today’s choices and priorities? Am I progressively becoming a person fulfilling God’s vision in a given context?