The master commended the steward in the gospel. This was not, for sure,

an approval of the fraudulent nature of his dealings with others.

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money”

 

 St. Leo the Great, pope and doctor

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Romans 15:14-21

As for me,

Brothers and sisters, I am convinced that you have goodwill, knowledge and the capacity to advise each other; nevertheless I have written boldly in some parts of this letter to remind you of what you already know. I do this according to the grace God has given to me when I was sent to the pagan nations. I dedicated myself to the service of the Good News of God as a minister of Christ Jesus, in order to present the non-Jews to God as an agreeable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit. This service of God is for me a cause of pride in Christ Jesus. 

 

Of course, I would not dare to speak of other things but what Christ himself has done through me, my words and my works, with miracles and signs, by the power of the Holy Spirit – so that non-Jews may obey the faith. In this way I have extended the Good News to all parts, from Jerusalem to Illyricum. 

 

I have been very careful, however, and I am proud of this, not to preach in places where Christ is already known, and not to build upon foundations laid by others. Let it be as Scripture says: Those not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

 

Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊     

Luke 16:1-8

At another time Jesus told his disciples, "There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him for fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him: 'What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service for it is about to be terminated."

 

The steward thought to himself: 'What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do: I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be some people to welcome me into their house. So he called his master's debtors one by one. He asked the first who came: 'How much do you owe my master?' 

 

The reply was: 'A hundred jars of oil.' The steward said: 'Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write there fifty. To the second he put the same question: 'How much do you owe?' The answer was: 'A hundred measures of wheat. Then he said: Take your bill and write eighty.

The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the people of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"We are called to do the right thing." 

People often misunderstand this parable, thinking that Jesus is somehow praising the deviousness of the dishonest steward. Clearly, neither Jesus nor the master is praising the steward for his dishonesty. The master is firing him for that behavior! Instead, the master commends him for making a smart choice when faced with losing his job. The steward sacrifices his excessive commissions on his master's loans in the hope that the debtors will be so grateful that they will take care of him when he is unemployed.

 

The steward was willing to treat the debtors fairly when he thought that would be to his advantage But the call of a disciple is different. We are called to do the right thing not because it will benefit us or because we fear punishment for doing something bad. Instead, we strive to do what is right because that is what pleases God, the source of all that is good. Because we love God, we want to do what pleases him. In this lies our joy.