Presence

When I come into Your presence, O Lord,
I know I am in the presence of my Creator.
You created me out of love.
You even know the number of hairs on my head.
Your presence, O Lord, is the greatest gift of all.

Freedom

Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Lord,
so that I may have inner freedom.
Let Your Spirit instil in my heart
a desire to know and love You more each day.

Consciousness

Dear Jesus, may I always be aware of Your presence,
Your power and Your Love,
all the days of my life.

The Word of God

¹Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ²So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

Inspiration

On a first reading of this gospel, we might think that Our Lord is commending the actions of the unjust steward, but in the last line, we see that he is being contrasted with the children of light. We are those who have been given the light of the truth, and we are challenged by how we use this gift. How are we preparing ourselves for the world of eternity? Do I take the means to grow in my faith and in my knowledge and love of Jesus Christ through reading, prayer, and the sacraments? Let us pray to live in a more enlightened way.

St Augustine wrote, ‘As a Christian, I will have to give an account of my life to God, and as a leader, I will have to give an account of my stewardship.’

Conversation

“Stay and watch with me.”
These were Your words, Lord, to the disciples,
before Your suffering and death.
I know, Lord, You will stay and watch over me
all the days of my life.

Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Amen