GOD'S WORD IN DAILY LIFE
5 November/Friday/31st Week in Ordinary Time,
Rom 15,14-21/Psa 98,1.2-3.3-4/Luke 16,1-8
By Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD
First Reading Romans 15:14-21
My duty is to bring the Good News from God to the pagans
My brothers, I am quite certain that you are full of good intentions, perfectly well instructed and able to advise each other. The reason why I have written to you, and put some things rather strongly, is to refresh your memories, since God has given me this special position. He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to carry out my priestly duty by bringing the Good News from God to the pagans, and so make them acceptable as an offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
I think I have some reason to be proud of what I, in union with Christ Jesus, have been able to do for God. What I am presuming to speak of, of course, is only what Christ himself has done to win the allegiance of the pagans, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. I have always, however, made it an unbroken rule never to preach where Christ’s name has already been heard. The reason for that was that I had no wish to build on other men’s foundations; on the contrary, my chief concern has been to fulfil the text: Those who have never been told about him will see him, and those who have never heard about him will understand.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 97(98):1-4
The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Gospel Acclamation 2Cor 5:19
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 16:1-8
The master praised the dishonest servant
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”
Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first, he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another, he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.” ‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’
Reflection
The Gospel Reading compares the astuteness of the children of this world with that of the children of light by means of a parable. It was common practice in the Ancient Near East for large property owners or wealthy people to engage the services of a business manager. The task of the business manager was to oversee or manage the property of the master. Normally, these managers gave out the goods of the master on credit to debtors who paid the due sum with interest. Normally, the payment was made to the business manager who then paid the master what was his due and kept the rest of the interest.
Granting that the unfaithful business manager in the parable also followed a similar practice, we can understand his decision to revise the debt of the debtors of the master. Having been informed that he would be dismissed, he was aware that the amount that would have accrued to him upon payment by the debtors would no longer come to him. In the eyes of the debtors, his action to reduce their debt was a favour to them but for the unfaithful servant, he was only cancelling his own share on the interest on the loan. He did not want what was his due to go to the master who was dismissing him.
Jesus said in the parable that the master upon learning about what the unfaithful business manager did, praised him for his astuteness. As far as Christians are concerned, neither the unfaithfulness of the business manager nor the manner in which he dealt with the debtors is recommendable. The only thing we can learn from the action of the unfaithful business manager is how we should be intelligent in making use of the gifts or talents that God has given us. We should not be dormant and inactive because that would not be a good response to the invitation of the Lord to bring to fruition the gifts he has bestowed on us.
Like Paul in the First Reading, we should also learn to carry out our God-given duties to the best of our abilities. This is a sure way to show that we are capable of managing the things the Lord entrusts to us.