Sunday September 22, 2019
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 135
A Reading from the Gospel according to Luke
Lk 16:1-13
Jesus said to his disciples,
"A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
'What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.'
The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.'
He called in his master's debtors one by one.
To the first he said,
'How much do you owe my master?'
He replied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.'
He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.'
Then to another the steward said, 'And you, how much do you owe?'
He replied, 'One hundred kors of wheat.'
The steward said to him, 'Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.'
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
"For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?
No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon."
Lk 16:10-13
Jesus said to his disciples:
"The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?
No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon."
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel tells us that while persons who focus on self-gratification are very shrewd in their friendships, Christians must focus on being trustworthy, serving One Master. Here are a few of St. Francis de Sales’ thoughts on true friendship:
For true friendship to come into and remain in existence it calls for close communication between friends. When we have a high esteem for those we love, we open our heart to their friendship in a way that their inclinations, good or bad quickly enter into us. While a certain kind of bee seeks nothing but honey, unknowingly it sucks in the poisonous qualities of the plant it draws the honey from. Our Lord said to be good bankers and moneychangers. Don’t take in bad money along with the good. Hence, do not enter any compromise with a love opposed to love of God.
Certainly we must love our friends in spite of their faults. However, true friendship requires us to share the good, not evil. Those who dig for gold in a stream sift out the sand and leave it on the banks. So also those who share in good friendship ought to remove the sand of its imperfections and not let it get into their souls.
Genuine friendship resides in the heart, where God’s love holds first place. Thus it is grounded in God’s love, and is guaranteed to last eternally. It encourages, assists and leads friends to perform good deeds. Persons walking on a rugged slippery road hold on to one another in order to walk more safely; so too with genuine friendship. It keeps us safe and assists us in many dangerous places we must cross. It does not watch its friends perish in evilness without helping and correcting them, for genuine living friendship survives only on true virtue. It is good, holy and sacred. How good it is to love and cherish one another in this world as we shall do eternally in the next!
