Có một câu chuyện kể rằng, Ở làng nghèo xứ đó, có hai mẹ con sống với nhau trong cảnh nghẻo túng, Khi người con trai lớn lên, anh đã yêu một người phụ nữ, nhưng người phụ nữ này không tha thiết với anh ta lắm. Vì thế có một lúc anh ta đã nói với cô ta rằng: anh sẽ làm bất cứ điều gì cô ấy muốn nếu cô ấy đồng ý kết hôn với anh ta. Cô ta nghe thế mới nói đùa với anh ta la: "Tôi sẽ chỉ đồng ý kết hôn với anh nếu anh móc trái tim của mẹ anh ra và mang đến cho tôi. Chỉ bằng cách này, anh mới có thể chứng minh được tình yêu của anh " Thế rồi tối hôm ấy, trong bóng tối của màn đêm anh chàng trai này đã vào phòng của mẹ anh, lấy dao nhọn và đâm vào long ngực mẹ mình, anh ta cắt trái tim của mẹ mình, cầm trái tim rên tay với bàn tay vấy máu và chạy tới nhà của người phụ nữ anh yêu. Nhưng trong khi chạy với trái tim của mẹ anh trong tay, anh vấp ngã. Trái tim của mẹ anh đã nói với anh: "Hãy cẩn thận, con trai của mẹ."
Friday 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Rom. 15:14-21; Lk. 16:1-8
Once there lived a poor mother and her son. When he grew up, he fell in love with a woman who was not serious about him. He told her he would do anything she ask if only she would marry him. Half in jest, she told him: “I will only marry you if you cut out your mother’s heart and bring it to me. Only in this way can you prove your love.” In the darkness of the night he went into his mother’s room, took from his belt a knife and plunged it into her breast. He cut her heart and run with bloodstained hands towards the home of his loved one. As he ran with the heart of his mother in his hands, he stumbled and fell. His mother’s heart said to him: “Be careful, my son.” The son wrongly believed that if only he could get the heart of his mother he would win the heart of the woman he loved. Be careful my son…” It was as though his mother was gently reminding him: “”be careful where you put your heart, my son.”
In today’s gospel, the master praises the steward not for his dishonesty but for his prudence.
Jesus is teaching us today that if we are to be real and effective children of light we need to be decisive, creative and wise in spending our time and effort in following God’s as we carry out our worldly activities.
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.’” Luke 16:1–2
At first glance, today’s parable can be puzzling and even unsettling, as Jesus appears to praise deceit. However, when read in light of Catholic tradition, its deeper spiritual meaning becomes clear and richly instructive. This parable is not about how to succeed in the world, but about how to live wisely in view of eternal life.
In the parable, the steward is accused of squandering his master’s goods, which is a serious offense. Facing dismissal, he devises a plan to reduce the debts owed to his master, hoping to earn favor with the debtors so that they might welcome him into their homes once he is out of a job. The master does not praise the steward’s dishonesty, but he does commend his prudence and shrewd foresight in preparing for the future. This becomes a symbol of the diligence we must exercise to prepare our souls for eternal life.
The steward finds himself at a moment of reckoning. He must give an account of his stewardship. The steward’s moment of judgment mirrors the spiritual truth that we are called to give an account of how we have used our time, talents, and treasures. The steward poses a question to himself: “What shall I do?” That same question ought to echo within our own hearts. How do I prepare now for what comes next?
It is tempting to live as if this life were our final end, as if earthly success, comfort, and security were our primary goals. Though we may hope in Heaven, its mysterious and intangible nature can lead us to treat it as a distant dream rather than a present reality.
The moment when the steward is called to account, however, does not simply symbolize the hour of our death. Rather, it points to this present moment. Each day, we are called to live in such a way that we are continually preparing to meet our Lord. Every decision, every act of charity, every use of our material resources is part of our ongoing accounting before God. Knowing that our time in this world is short in comparison to eternity, our ongoing question for self-reflection is: “What shall I do today to prepare for Heaven and eternal glory with the angels and saints?” This is not a selfish question when we understand the correct answer.
The act of reducing the debt of his master’s debtors reveals the wisdom of forgiveness, charity, and mercy. If we spend this life helping others reduce their debt before God—by evangelizing, witnessing to His mercy, and giving of ourselves selflessly and sacrificially—then when we stand before the Just Judge at the end of our earthly lives, God will commend us for acting with His wisdom, prudently fulfilling His divine will by living charitably toward others. Of course, we do not reduce others’ debts apart from God; we help them discover and accept the forgiveness Christ has already won for them, lessening the burden of sin through grace.
Like this steward, the best way for us to prepare for Heaven is to help reduce the debt others owe to God. Sin incurs a debt. Though Jesus fully paid that debt by His Passion and Death, the merits of His Sacrifice apply to us only when we humble ourselves before God and change. We reduce another’s debt before God when our lives help others turn from sin and accept God’s mercy, poured forth from the Cross, because we wisely and charitably helped them to change.
Reflect today on how God is calling you to be a steward of mercy. Whom can you help to turn toward God? What debts can you help reduce? By drawing others to Christ, you also prepare your own soul for the eternal reward He promises. Turn your eyes to Heaven and live this life with that eternal perspective, and you will be prepared to give a full accounting of your stewardship before God when the time of accounting has begun.
My Lord and Just Judge, Though You have fully paid the debt of sin that I owe, You ask that I humble myself before You to receive that precious gift. Help me to open my heart completely to Your mercy and forgiveness, and then to go forth diligently, seeking ways to help reduce the debt of others. May my life be a witness to Your grace, drawing souls to conversion, so that together we may share in the eternal rewards of Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. The Parable of the Dishonest Steward: The Gospel of Luke often praises the blessings of poverty and warns us about the dangers of wealth. Today’s parable concerns the wise administration of earthly wealth to attain eternal glory. While the steward in the parable is dishonest but prudent, Jesus’ disciples are called to be both trustworthy and prudent. The steward manifests a whole series of vices. He squandered and mismanaged his master’s property. He was unwilling to undertake manual labor and too ashamed to beg. Finally, he engaged in fraud when he reduced the debts owed to his master. One debtor owed one hundred measures of olive oil, and the steward reduced the amount by half. Another owed one hundred measures of wheat, and his debt was reduced by twenty percent. Jesus’ parables often employ an unexpected twist. Here, instead of the master simply flying into a rage, he commends the dishonest steward for acting prudently. Jesus explains that the children of this world are often more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light. The steward recognized that his position was about to end and acted decisively to secure his future. Jesus’ disciples should show at least as much foresight in preparing for their eternal future. If the steward acted shrewdly to secure a welcome into earthly dwellings, how much more should we use our earthly wealth to prepare for a welcome into heavenly dwellings?
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, today I remember my family members, friends, and acquaintances who have passed from this life. I entrust each of them to your infinite mercy, praying that they may be purified of every remaining attachment to sin and welcomed into the fullness of your heavenly kingdom. Strengthen my hope in the resurrection of the dead, deepen my love for those who have gone before me, and prepare me to share eternal life with you.
1. The Gift of Eternal Life: The Gospel of John focuses especially on the gift of eternal life. Jesus promises that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life and that he will raise them up on the last day. Eternal life, therefore, is both a present gift and a future promise. Through faith in Jesus, we begin to share in God’s own life here and now. We receive his grace, grow in friendship with him, and are gradually transformed into his likeness. Yet our journey toward eternal life is not complete when we first believe. Faith must take root and bear fruit in a life of love and obedience. Although God desires our salvation and offers us the grace we need to persevere, we must freely cooperate with his grace. We can deepen our friendship with God through prayer, the sacraments, and works of charity, but we can also wound or even reject that friendship through sin. Our hope rests in Christ, who promises not to reject those who come to him and who desires to lose none of those entrusted to him by the Father. Today, as we pray for the faithful departed, we renew our hope that God will bring his work of grace in us to completion and raise us to the fullness of eternal life.
Friday 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 -Luke 16:1-8
opening Prayer: Dear Lord, I come before you asking to grow in faith, hope, and love. Grant me the grace to know and love you just a little more today. May I listen to your words attentively so that I can respond with deliberate obedience. Lord, I trust that you will give me what I need to fulfill your holy will.
1. “The Children of This World Are More Prudent”: We note a tinge of sadness in Our Lord’s comment, “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.’’ In other words, people strive more intensely for the things of this world than his followers do in pursuit of the kingdom of God. The children of the world engage their intellect, will, and imagination to gain wealth, popularity, power, and comfort. They know what they want and they pursue it. While the object they pursue is ephemeral, the intensity with which they pursue it is admirable. Our Lord wants to see his followers live with that same intensity. In the Book of Revelation he says, “I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).
The scriptures call us to not get lazy or complacent or to rest on our past achievements. All of us have a task to do, a part to contribute towards the coming of God’s reign and this work is ongoing throughout the whole of our lives. We cannot ever think we’ve completed our part and deserve to rest in the sweet praises of what we once had accomplished no more than we can delay until the approaching termination of our days on earth to spark us into action. We are called to make good use of the things of this world without becoming tainted by having used them, always remembering that things are not what are most important and they are always ultimately left behind. Lord, with Your grace and wisdom may we make good use of the blessings we receive in this life to benefit ourselves and our brothers and sisters.
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