When the master becomes aware of what the sly servant has done, he commends him for his “shrewdness.”

Jesus encourages His followers to be generous with their wealth in this life

so that in the life to come their new friends will receive them “into eternal dwellings.”

This corresponds to Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount to lay up treasures in heaven.

 

St. Martin of Tours, bishop

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊ 

Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27

Greetings to Prisca and Aquilas,

My helpers in Christ Jesus. To save my life, they risked theirs; I am very grateful to them, as are all the churches of the pagan nations. Greetings also to the church that meets in their house. Greetings to my dear Epaenetus, the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ. Greet Mary, who worked so much for you.

 

Greetings to Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and companions in prison; they are well known apostles and served Christ before I did. Give greetings to Ampliatus, whom I love so much in the Lord. Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker, and to my dear Stachys. 

Greet each other with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send their greetings.

 

I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, send you greetings in the Lord. Greetings from Gaius, who has given me lodging and in whose house the church meets. Greetings from Erastus, treasurer of the city, and from our brother Quartus. Glory be to God! He is able to give you strength, according to the Good News I proclaim, announcing Christ Jesus.

 

Now is revealed the mysterious plan kept hidden for long ages in the past. By the will of the eternal God it is brought to light, through the prophetic books, and all nations shall believe the faith proclaimed to them. Glory to God, who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, forever! Amen.

 

Ps 145:2-3, 4-5, 10-11 I will praise your name forever, Lord.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Luke 16:9-15

And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes.

Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling filthy money, who could entrust you with true wealth? And if you have not been trustworthy with things that are not really yours, who will give you the wealth which is your own? No servant can serve two masters.

 

Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money." 

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. He said to them, "You do your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what rises high among human beings is loathed by God.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"By living with God as our true master, we will become worthy of trust." 

Who can you trust? Every day we need to decide who we can rely on to support us in difficult times and offer help when needed. That help can be something big, like helping to care for a sick child, or one of the small acts of kindness that make up everyday life, like doing the laundry or the grocery shopping. We all hope to have people in our lives that we can count on. Paul certainly did. The long list of names at the end of his Letter to the Romans shows just how much Paul depended on his brothers and sisters in the faith.

 

But how do we become people worthy of trust? Jesus offers some advice in that regard. First, we can look to our experience with people. Those who have been trustworthy in the past are likely to remain so in the future. We prove ourselves worthy of trust by acting with fidelity and righteousness time and again and by forthrightly admitting failures when they occur. By living with God as our true master, we will become worthy of trust.