2021년 11월 5일 연중 제31주간 금요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
<이 은총은 내가 다른 민족들을 위하여 그리스도 예수님의 종이 되어 그들이 하느님께서 기꺼이 받으시는 제물이 되게 하는 것입니다.>
로마서. 15,14-21
14 나의 형제 여러분, 나는 여러분 자신도 선의로 가득하고
온갖 지식으로 충만할 뿐만 아니라 서로 타이를 능력이 있다고 확신합니다.
15 그러나 나는 하느님께서 나에게 베푸신 은총에 힘입어
여러분의 기억을 새롭게 하려고, 어떤 부분에서는 상당히 대담하게 썼습니다.
16 이 은총은 내가 다른 민족들을 위하여 그리스도 예수님의 종이 되어,
하느님의 복음을 전하는 사제직을 수행하기 위한 것입니다.
그리하여 다른 민족들이 성령으로 거룩하게 되어
하느님께서 기꺼이 받으시는 제물이 되게 하는 것입니다.
17 그러므로 나는 그리스도 예수님 안에서 하느님을 위하여 일하는 것을
자랑으로 여깁니다.
18 사실 다른 민족들이 순종하게 하시려고
그리스도께서 나를 통하여 이룩하신 일 외에는,
내가 감히 더 말할 것이 없습니다. 그 일은 말과 행동으로,
19 표징과 이적의 힘으로, 하느님 영의 힘으로 이루어졌습니다.
그리하여 나는 예루살렘에서 일리리쿰까지 이르는 넓은 지역에
그리스도의 복음을 선포하는 일을 완수하였습니다.
20 이와 같이 나는 그리스도께서 아직 알려지지 않으신 곳에
복음을 전하는 것을 명예로 여깁니다.
남이 닦아 놓은 기초 위에 집을 짓지 않으려는 것입니다.
21 이는 성경에 기록된 그대로입니다.
“그에 관하여 전해 들은 적 없는 자들이 보고
그의 소문을 들어 본 적 없는 자들이 깨달으리라.”
복음
<이 세상의 자녀들이 저희끼리 거래하는 데에는 빛의 자녀들보다 영리하다.>
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 5, 2021
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
Rom 15:14-21
that you yourselves are full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.
But I have written to you rather boldly in some respects to remind you,
because of the grace given me by God
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles
in performing the priestly service of the Gospel of God,
so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast in what pertains to God.
For I will not dare to speak of anything
except what Christ has accomplished through me
to lead the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,
by the power of signs and wonders,
by the power of the Spirit of God,
so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum
I have finished preaching the Gospel of Christ.
Thus I aspire to proclaim the Gospel
not where Christ has already been named,
so that I do not build on another's foundation,
but as it is written:
Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Gospel
Lk 16:1-8
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
Today’s readings begin with concluding comments from Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. This letter is quite long and full of challenging statements, some of which might even be characterized as indictments. Consider Romans 2:1: “Therefore, you are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things.” One finds it hard to conclude that Paul must be talking about someone else after reading that statement.
Despite these “bold” admonishments from the Apostle, today’s reading begins with an encouraging and even optimistic statement about his intended readers: “I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.” (Romans 15:14). After reading his letter, I would not exactly feel full of goodness, but instead a little challenged and in need of the grace and mercy proclaimed in the gospel message. But perhaps Paul’s statement is also bringing truth to us that we desperately need: despite our sinful tendencies, goodness can also be found in our midst, and we can know what that goodness looks like.
Knowing and recognizing such goodness – a capacity that the Holy Spirit shares with us through a well-formed conscience -- becomes an instrument to help us live out our faith. Paul also mentions the capacity to admonish one another – which entails instructing, warning, and correcting about the risk of straying from the path of goodness (or perhaps only leaning that direction) – which is part of that formation process.
In today’s gospel, our Lord demonstrates admonishment through a perplexing story. I sometimes mention this parable to my students, as it presents the problem of faithless agents and a lack of internal controls within the master’s accounting system. But after digging a little deeper into biblical scholarship, I also found another angle: perhaps the steward was not giving away the master’s property rights, but instead disgorging his own commissions – the extra “vig” he imposed on the customers. This casts new light on the parable, which Jesus uses to admonish us about wisdom in using our earthly resources. Perhaps the steward is doing just that – rather than committing further injustice against his master (while conspiring with customers)!
As Paul suggests, even people full of goodness may need admonishment from time to time. Perhaps we can get a little too full of our goodness for our own good! Focusing on thanksgiving, mercy, and goodness that comes from the works of God in our midst can help us escape this trap. And perhaps effective admonishment also comes from examples of living out and honoring goodness, albeit imperfectly. I would venture that most of us do not like being admonished – particularly if it comes with being judged. But we often need things we do not like. The medicine we need in this life is sometimes bitter, not sweet.
Lord, help us accept your admonishments and live wisely in light of the truth and goodness we know, but sometimes fail to execute. And when we fail, help us to flee to your tender mercies, knowing that your love endures forever. Amen.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
GUNG-HO
“The owner then gave his devious employee credit for being enterprising! Why? Because the worldly take more initiative than the other-worldly when it comes to dealing with their own kind.” —Luke 16:8
The people of the world are usually charged up. They are in overdrive to make money and satisfy their carnal desires. It is nothing to work fifty, sixty, or more hours a week. They’ll stay up all night just to get a buzz. Almost no sacrifice seems too great to get ahead or feel high.
Jesus says that we Christians should have that kind of initiative and drive — not motivated by carnal desires but by God’s love. If we spread the Good News with the fervor in which the world markets the bad news, what an evangelism-explosion would result! If we stayed up all night praying while the world was preying, what victory we would see! The Good News doesn’t look so good if not proclaimed with abandon.
Jesus said: “I have come to light a fire on the earth. How I wish the blaze were ignited! I have a baptism to receive. What anguish I feel till it is over!” (Lk 12:49-50) Let’s run out of the upper room. May our walk match our talk. We need a new Pentecost to conquer the world (1 Jn 5:5).
Prayer: Jesus, I’m sorry for not running down the street telling of You, Your crucified love, and Resurrection-power.
Promise: “I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me to win the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, with mighty signs and marvels, by the power of God’s Spirit.” —Rm 15:18-19
Praise: Sarah understood the meaning of unconditional love after her husband’s stroke.
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.)
More Homilies
November 8, 2019 Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
