Friday of Week 31 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 16:1-8

After the three wonderful parables about God’s mercy and longing for the reconciliation of the sinner, Luke swings back again in chapter 16 with two parables and related teaching about our use of material possessions, and he puts some of the responsibility for our salvation back on ourselves.

The first is a story about a rather dishonest steward or manager. His responsibilities were to handle all the business affairs of his employer. However, he had been mishandling his employer’s funds and was about to be fired. In this context, one may also think of the prodigal son who utterly wasted the inheritance his loving father had given him.

Immediately the steward begins to think of his future. He does not have the strength to do manual labour, and to go begging would be a terrible loss of face. So he thinks of a strategy by which he calls in all his employer’s debtors and reduces the amounts they owe.

The debts incurred were considerable. One hundred measures of olive oil was equivalent to about 800 gallons or the yield of 450 olive trees. One hundred measures of wheat was equal to about 1,000 bushels or the yield of 100 acres. Very few farmers would have had anything like that kind of land in Jesus’ time.

By doing this favour, the steward hopes to be able to find alternative employment with one of them. Surprisingly, his employer, far from being angry, praises the farsightedness of his corrupt steward.

Some commentators question whether the steward was actually acting dishonestly. Was he actually denying his employer money which he was really owed, or was he rather writing off the ‘commission’ which he was usuriously charging, thus inflating the proper amount owed? The Mosaic law forbade taking interest on loans from fellow Jews, so one way of getting round this was to overcharge debtors. By reducing the debts to the proper level, the steward was correcting an injustice and, at the same time, making these debtors favourably disposed towards him. Whatever the interpretation, the point Jesus is making is the same: the steward acted with shrewdness and intelligence to guarantee his future.

Jesus concludes by pointing out that the worldly (“the children of this age”) are far more astute in providing for their future than are those who are regarded as spiritual (”the children of light)”. Jesus is in no way condoning the steward’s dishonest and corrupt behaviour. What he does praise is his clear-sighted preparation for his future.

The lesson for us should also be clear. If a man can do that for his earthly career, what about our future in the life to come? If we want to guarantee our future life with God then we, too, need to take the necessary steps. Those steps are clearly laid out in the Gospel. In general, they involve a life which is built on truth and integrity, and on love, compassion and justice with regard to the people around us. Our task is to work with God in making his will our own and in building up the Kingdom. If we do this on a daily basis, then we have nothing to worry about and our future is assured.

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Friday of Week 31 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Romans 15:14-21

We begin today the reading of the epilogue to Paul’s rather long letter.  As he comes to the end of his message, he makes some general remarks about issues touching on his evangelising work.

He begins by saying that he is sure they will understand the reason for his writing to them even though the Roman church is not one founded by him, and even though they are:

…full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

But he wants to refresh their memories on a few points.  Does this mean that he had written to them earlier, or that he is just referring to general points of Christian teaching known to all?

He reminds them that he had been given a special grace to proclaim the gospel of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, so that they:

…may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

He always sees this as his special calling.  He sees this apostolic calling almost as a liturgical function in which the offerings are those people whom he has brought to Christ and offers to God.  Paul’s priestly function differed from that of the levitical priesthood which involved sacrifices in the Temple.  Paul’s apostolate was to bring Gentiles into the Christian family through preaching the gospel and making the gentile churches an offering in Christ to God.

He then reminds the Romans of what he has achieved:

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God.

He is not bragging, for he knows that all he has done has been done through the power of Christ working in and through him:

For I will not be so bold as to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit…

Some of these ‘signs and wonders’ are described in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul was not the only evangelist and there were, of course, all those who consolidated the work which he began in each place.

His evangelising extended all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum—these were the two extremes of his missionary journeys at the time of writing this Letter.  Jerusalem was the home of the Mother Church, from where the preaching of the gospel originated.  It is not certain whether he actually entered Illyricum because there is no mention in Acts of Paul being there.  Illyricum was at this time a Roman province, north of Macedonia (where Paul certainly had gone) in what is now Albania and the former Yugoslavia.

In saying that he has “fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ” in the eastern Mediterranean does not mean that evangelising work has been completed, but only that he has fulfilled his personal mandate which will, of course, have to be continued by the new Christians resident in each place.

He mentions another principle which he strictly observed.  He only preached the gospel in places where it had not been already preached:

I make it my ambition to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation…

We know that there were other evangelisers and they are mentioned by Paul in his letters.  Paul was guided by a saying from the prophet Isaiah:

…for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
(Is 52:15)

It is something that we might seriously reflect on in our own Church and in our own parishes today.  We would have to admit that a great deal, if not nearly all, of our pastoral energies are directed at the already converted.  Yet there are growing numbers of people even in so-called ‘Catholic’ countries who have never heard the gospel proclaimed.  And, as Paul says earlier in this Letter:

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? (Rom 10:14)

We too could reflect profitably on some of Paul’s words in today’s reading. We too have been called to be evangelists, to share the gospel message with others. Whatever we accomplish in bringing others to Christ will be his work and not ours alone.  Yet we may be the necessary instruments he needs to use. As well, there are places and people which will never hear the gospel message unless we speak and act. It may even be in our home, in our working place or with our friends.  Let us not deprive them of this grace which could transform their lives.

Two questions we might ask are: How many adults are baptised in our parish every year?  How many ‘lapsed’ members have been brought back in the past year?

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