November 6, 2020 Friday of the Thirty-first week in Ordinary Time

2020년 11월 6일 연중 제31주간 금요일

제1독서
 필리피서.3,17ㅡ4,1
17 형제 여러분, 다 함께 나를 본받는 사람이 되십시오.
여러분이 우리를 본보기로 삼는 것처럼
그렇게 살아가는 다른 이들도 눈여겨보십시오.
18 내가 이미 여러분에게 자주 말하였고 지금도 눈물을 흘리며 말하는데,
많은 사람이 그리스도의 십자가의 원수로 살아가고 있습니다.
19 그들의 끝은 멸망입니다. 그들은 자기네 배를 하느님으로,
자기네 수치를 영광으로 삼으며 이 세상 것만 생각합니다.
20 그러나 우리는 하늘의 시민입니다.
그리고 그곳에서 구세주로 오실 주 예수 그리스도를 고대합니다.
21 그리스도께서는 만물을 당신께 복종시키실 수도 있는 그 권능으로,
우리의 비천한 몸을 당신의 영광스러운 몸과 같은 모습으로
변화시켜 주실 것입니다.
4,1 그러므로 내가 사랑하고 그리워하는 형제 여러분,
나의 기쁨이며 화관인 여러분,
이렇게 주님 안에 굳건히 서 있으십시오, 사랑하는 여러분!

 

복음
루카. 16,1-8
그때에 1 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
“어떤 부자가 집사를 두었는데, 이 집사가 자기의 재산을 낭비한다는 말을 듣고,
2 그를 불러 말하였다.
‘자네 소문이 들리는데 무슨 소린가? 집사 일을 청산하게.
자네는 더 이상 집사 노릇을 할 수 없네.’
3 그러자 집사는 속으로 말하였다.
‘주인이 내게서 집사 자리를 빼앗으려고 하니 어떻게 하지?
땅을 파자니 힘에 부치고 빌어먹자니 창피한 노릇이다. 4 옳지, 이렇게 하자.
내가 집사 자리에서 밀려나면
사람들이 나를 저희 집으로 맞아들이게 해야지.’
5 그래서 그는 주인에게 빚진 사람들을 하나씩 불러 첫 사람에게 물었다.
‘내 주인에게 얼마를 빚졌소?’
6 그가 ‘기름 백 항아리요.’ 하자,
집사가 그에게 ‘당신의 빚 문서를 받으시오.
그리고 얼른 앉아 쉰이라고 적으시오.’ 하고 말하였다.
7 이어서 다른 사람에게 ‘당신은 얼마를 빚졌소?’ 하고 물었다.
그가 ‘밀 백 섬이오.’ 하자,
집사가 그에게 ‘당신의 빚 문서를 받아 여든이라고 적으시오.’ 하고 말하였다.
8 주인은 그 불의한 집사를 칭찬하였다. 그가 영리하게 대처하였기 때문이다.
사실 이 세상의 자녀들이 저희끼리 거래하는 데에는
빛의 자녀들보다 영리하다.”

 

November 6, 2020 

Friday of the Thirty-first week in Ordinary Time 

Daily Readings — Audio 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1

Phil 3:17?4:1

Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, 
and observe those who thus conduct themselves 
according to the model you have in us.
For many, as I have often told you 
and now tell you even in tears, 
conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach; 
their glory is in their “shame.”
Their minds are occupied with earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven, 
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified Body 
by the power that enables him also 
to bring all things into subjection to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, 
in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5

R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

 

Gospel

Lk 16:1-8

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 he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ 
He 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 the children of light.”

 

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

My first reaction when I read today’s gospel was disbelief and a sense of confusion.  The steward engages in what we CPAs would characterize as fraud and misappropriation of assets.  And the master commends him for his actions!  This certainly doesn’t match with my understanding of acceptable behavior by a business agent, nor by the principal.

So, I dug a little deeper.  I read the next few lines of Luke 16 and the related commentary on the USCCB website.  Apparently, the behavior of the steward was commended because he had written down the amount of the debt receivable to the actual amount borrowed, thus reducing the inflated amount which contained the agent’s personal graft.  It was customary in the Palestine area to charge usurious amounts of interest and that is what the agent did.  So, when the master expressed concern about the agent’s honesty, the steward adjusted the debt by reducing it to the real amount borrowed.  He was creating a benefit for the debtor, and thus was “acting prudently” – i.e., taking care of himself – something his master felt was worthy of commendation. 

The transition phrase to verses 9 – 13, (which amplify the teachings of the parable) “the children of this world,” refers to those of us chiefly motivated by our desire to accumulate dishonest wealth (i.e., false riches), that can lead us away from the path God calls us to pursue.  “The children of the light” refers to those who are motivated by and follow the teachings of Jesus.  The steward was clearly motivated by taking care of himself, not working to help those in need.  His “generosity” to the debtors was not to right an injustice, or to better their condition, but to help himself – i.e., to focus on what was in it for him. 

When I stepped back and let this sit with me for a few days, it resonated with the Ignatian principle of detachment.  There is nothing intrinsically evil about owning a wealth of worldly possessions, nor about owning very few of those items.  The moral and spiritual challenge is in putting that ownership in context – i.e., treating the wealth as true riches versus false ones.  True wealth is a means to becoming closer to God and to following the teachings of Jesus to take care of our sisters and brothers during this life on earth.  False riches lead us away from God by focusing our attention on ourselves, by creating (or reinforcing) feelings of entitlement, by ignoring those around us who are hurting and not as fortunate as us, by analyzing choices by thinking first what is in it for us rather for the greater good.  

Those of us not blessed with an abundance of wealth may also falsely conclude that they are disfavored, that their personal value as a person is diminished, that they are unjustly treated by society.  They, too, focus on themselves and not on why God has given them the gifts they have received, including material poverty. 

I am at the point in my life and career where I am inexorably moving closer to retirement (my wife already has).  I feel the uncertainty of having “enough” for us to be comfortable and relatively worry-free during these coming years.  Having more is almost always better than not having enough, especially when contemplating giving up a job after 45 years.  It is so easy to be moved by that reality than on the call from God and from Jesus to look beyond the immediate and focus on the eternal.  It is easy to be tempted to be less generous than in the past.  I don’t think of our retirement assets and other accumulations as “dishonest” wealth.  But reflecting on today’s passages, and those that follow it in Luke 16, can certainly frame the perspective in a different light. 

I am also aware that the greatest gift I have received is life itself.  I wonder how generously I will be to relinquish this most prized possession when I am called to do so.  I am mindful of the words of the Suscipe of Ignatius – giving the Lord all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my will – and the promise to restore them, to return them, when the time arrives.

And so, my prayer today is for the grace of detachment, to be grateful for the material wealth and gifts we have accumulated without being distracted by them, and to be able to freely and generously relinquish them in the future as I travel on the next steps in my journey.     

 

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS, JESUS DOESN’T NEED ENEMIES

“Unfortunately, many go about in a way which shows them to be enemies of the cross of Christ.” —Philippians 3:18

Our lifestyle shows the world whether we are friends or enemies of the crucified Jesus (Phil 3:18). We, His disciples, testify to our belief in His crucified love by the way we go about denying ourselves and carrying our own crosses (see Lk 9:23).

Your own life screams to the world that you are a friend or an enemy of the cross of Jesus. What is your life saying? What crosses would you run away from if Jesus offered them to you? (see Mk 14:50-51) Would you flee from the crosses of:

• having more children in obedience to God’s will,
• speaking up in public for Jesus at the risk of ridicule,
• tithing ten percent of your income and giving alms,
• fasting another day a week to win spiritual victories,
• turning off or throwing out your TV, and limiting time on your handheld electronic devices,
• making a public stand for life,
• working for justice for the poor and oppressed,
• speaking out publicly for holiness and chastity, or
• being a caregiver for a dying or special-needs person?

Jesus offers these and other crosses to us every day. When we decide to be a friend of His cross and pick it up each day, we paradoxically find our life (Lk 9:24) instead of losing it. “Enemies of the cross of Christ...will end in disaster!” (Phil 3:18, 19) Repent of refusing any cross. Die to the “things of this world” (Phil 3:19). Lift high your cross.

Prayer:  Jesus, may I be crucified to the world (Gal 6:14). May I never leave the foot of Your cross — not even for a moment of relief. I find all my comfort in being by Your side (cf Ps 94:19).

Promise:  “We have our citizenship in heaven.” —Phil 3:20

Praise:  Margaret was told she could not have children, but God gave her ten.

 

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 

Do you make good use of your money and possessions? Jesus seemed to praise a steward (a manager entrusted with his master's goods) who misused his employer's money. What did the steward do that made Jesus praise him? The steward was responsible for managing his wealthy landowner's property. The steward very likely overcharged his master's tenants for their use of the land and kept more than his fair share of the profit. When the landowner discovered the steward's dishonest practice he immediately removed him from his job, leaving him penniless and ashamed to beg or do manual work.

The necessity of prudent foresight to avert disaster
Before news of his dismissal became public knowledge, the shrewd steward struck a deal with his master's debtors. In discounting their debts he probably was giving up his generous commission. Such a deal won him great favor with the debtors. Since the steward acted as the landowner's agent, such a deal made his master look very generous and forgiving towards those who owned him money. Surely everyone would praise such a generous landowner as the town hero! Since the master could not undo the steward's cancellation of the debts without losing face and making his debtors resent him, he praised the steward for outwitting him and making him appear as a generous and merciful landowner.

Jesus obviously thought that the example of a very clever steward would be a perfect illustration for a spiritual lesson about God and how God treats those who belong to his kingdom. What's the point of Jesus' parable? The dishonest steward is commended not for mishandling his master's wealth, but for his shrewd provision in averting personal disaster and in securing his future livelihood. The original meaning of "shrewdness" is "foresight". A shrewd person grasps a critical situation with resolution, foresight, and the determination to avoid serious loss or disaster.

Faith and prudent foresight can save us from moral and spiritual disaster
Jesus is concerned here with something more critical than a financial or economic crisis. His concern is that we avert spiritual crisis and personal moral disaster through the exercise of faith and foresight. If Christians would only expend as much foresight and energy to spiritual matters, which have eternal consequences, as they do to earthly matters which have temporal consequences, then they would be truly better off, both in this life and in the age to come.

God loves good stewardship and generosity
Ambrose, a 4th century bishop said: The bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever. True wealth consists not in what we keep but in what we give away. Possessions are a great responsibility. The Lord expects us to use them honestly and responsibly and to put them at his service and the service of others. We belong to God and all that we have is his as well. He expects us to make a good return on what he gives us.

God loves generosity and he gives liberally to those who share his gifts with others. The Pharisees, however, had little room for God or others in their hearts. The Gospel says they were lovers of money (Luke 16:14). Love of money and wealth crowd out love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus makes clear that our hearts must either be possessed by God's love or our hearts will be possessed by the love of something else. What do you most treasure in your heart?

Lord Jesus, all that I have is a gift from you. May I love you freely and generously with all that I possess. Help me to be a wise and faithful steward of the resources you put at my disposal, including the use of my time, money, and possessions.

Psalm 98:1-4

1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory, he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Jesus recommends the foresight, prudence, and ingenuity of the steward, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. On top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job. Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, 'Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light.' They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future. In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master's decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?" (excerpt from 359A.10.)

   

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