November 8, 2013

Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time 
Lectionary: 489
Reading 1 ROM 15:14-21

I myself am convinced about you, my brothers and sisters,
that you yourselves are full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.

St. Paul is praising the Romans that they are full of goodness and that they should teach each other.

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,

 But God sent me to teach you the Gentiles and to be a priest amongst you in the service of the Gospel

so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

 so that the Gentiles like the Jews may have an offering acceptable to God by the Holy Spirit.

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast in what pertains to God.

  Because of Christ then, I boast about the faith of 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.

 therefore I will boast about what God has done through me amongst the Gentiles

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.

 Therefore  I will preach of the gospel wherever the gospel has not been heard so that I will not interfere with another man's teaching.

Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4

R. (see 2b) The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
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.

A. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.

The salvation of God has taken flesh and walked  among us,   therefore let us praise God!

Gospel LK 16:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.

 Jesus said, "a rich man had a  servant who was stealing 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 rich man summoned  the servant and fired  him saying, "I have heard that you are stealing from me therefore I'm letting you go."  

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.’

 and the servant said to himself I know what I'll do so that I won't have to work hard or sleep outside

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.’

 so he called in all those who owed money to his master and reduced their debts

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

  and the master was impressed

For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light.”

 because in this world people act wisely towards each other more wisely than the children of God. 

 This sounds as though the rich man was praising the servant for acting wickedly. But he wasn't. The rich man represents God. The servant represents the rest of us.   God expects us to use everything that he has given us,  our lives, our property, everything, for the good of those around us. In so doing we are not stealing from him but we are using his property prudently.  And this is why the master says that children of the world act more prudently with their own than do the children of God.