1st Reading: Romans
16:3-9
Greeting Paul's
co-workers, and praise of God's unfolding plan
Greet Prisca and
Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, and who risked their necks for my
life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the
Gentiles. Greet also the church in their house.Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who
was the first convert in Asia for Christ. Greet Mary, who has worked very hard
among you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me;
they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in
Christ, and may beloved Stachys.
Greet one another with
a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. I Tertius, the writer of
this letter, greet you in the Lord.Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole
church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet
you.
Now to God who is able
to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all
the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the
obedience of faith- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the
glory forever! Amen.
Gospel:
Luke 16:9-15
Maxims about worldly
goods and the service of God
And I tell you, make
friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone
they may welcome you into the eternal homes. "Whoever is faithful in a
very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little
is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with what belongs
to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters;
for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
The Pharisees, who were
lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them,
"You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God
knows your hearts; for what is prized by human being is an abomination in the
sight of God.
REFLECTIONS
AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS
British publications
once offered a prize for the best definition of a friend. Among the thousands
of answers received were the following:
1."One who
multiplies joys, divides grief, and whose honesty is inviolable.
2. " One who
understands our silence."
3." A volume of
sympathy bound in cloth."
4." A watch that
beats true for all time and never runs down."
5. " A friend is
the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." ( This was the
winning definition)
Today's gospel is the
continuation of yesterday's gospel by which Jesus commended the dishonest
steward, not because of his dishonesty, but because of his being smart and
wise. He was such a clever because he took effective steps to guarantee his
future employment by using his master's wealth. That is why in today's gospel
Jesus exhorts his disciples and us to follow in the footsteps of this dishonest
steward who used money generously to make friends for himself. We have to use
our wealth for our future eternal life.
In the mind of St. Luke
the evangelist, being generous is to make friendship with the poor and needy
through use of our wealth. They become our friends because we are merciful and
generous to them in their time of need, just as God is merciful to us in our
need for His forgiveness and help. These people will be on our side before
God's judgment seat because we had invested our wealth in them. As we read in
St. Matthew's gospel too: " As often as you did it to the least of these
my brothers and sisters, you did it to me," ( Matt 25:40). In other words
again, being generous to other people in need.
Jesus reminds us of the
fact that it is not all right to be dishonest, unjust and not trustworthy. He
reminds us too that it is all right to make money, but yet it is not all right
to make dirty money or money out of cheating , dishonesty, violence and fraud.
Jesus also reminds us
to make friends with material things, let us remember the fundamental code of
friendship, ' never to abuse a friend.' If wealth were a friend it should not
be abused. One demonstration of abusing wealth is the corrupt practice of
acquiring it to the detriment of others. In this perspective we are not friend
but a thief. Abusing wealth is also a disgrace no matter how legitimate it is,
when others don't have what we have, no matter how they work for it. Let us
bear in mind once again that what we have is a blessing and it is given in the
spirit of stewardship. We use it not only for ourselves but also for others.
Wealth Jesus says: "make friends for yourselves" and "riches are
blessing only to those who make them blessing to others.
Do we know the joy and
freedom of generosity and liberality in giving to others what God has so richly
given to us?
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni