FRIDAY, THIRTY FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pp, dr
Rom 15: 14-21; Ps 98: 1-4; Lk 16: 1-8
AS YOU SOW, SO SHALL YOU REAP
“Man is a mystery,” says Fyodor Dostoevsky. When we try to unravel this mystery, we find that each one is miles apart from the other. Though all human beings share the same ‘humanness,’ when we take a look at the ‘interior,’ the psyche, we find that they are different, divergent and unique. The liturgy presents to us two stewards: one in the parable, and the other steward of Jesus: Saint Paul. The steward in the gospel was lazy, selfish, greedy, a thief, and an egomaniac. He valued his interests more than the master’s, and ultimately was pushed out of the master’s house.
Paul, was another steward, but quite the contrary. He was ambitious and zealous. Paul had no qualms in working for his living, though he was a much respected preacher, he spent himself preaching and teaching, he worked (Acts 18:3). He suffered, was beaten, whipped, stoned, suffered shipwrecks (2 Cor 11:16-33), was imprisoned (Phil 1:12-14). But nothing stopped him from being a faithful servant of Jesus, his Master. He even said, “Woe to me if I don’t preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16). Now that is a significant mark of faithful stewardship; and for his faithfulness, Paul was rewarded by God.
A well-known psychologist Jordan B. Peterson has once said, “You can’t bend the fabric of reality, without breaking it.” As humans we cannot just do whatever we want according to our desires or fantasies and expect everything to be well. The liturgy calls us today to be people of character, to be noble in our thoughts, words and deeds. God who sees the heart’s goodwill and our actions, even the most secretive will reward, us in a manner that He alone knows. Let us remember that we too are stewards. Are we another Paul: sincere and genuine to our faith journey and to the people in our lives, or are we trying to bend the fabric of our reality – trying to get our whims done?
Response: The Lord has shown his deliverance to the nations.
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