A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (# 43)
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 19, 2004
“Be Enterprising”
Amos 8:4-7 / I Tim 2:1-8 // Lk 16:1-13
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
This experience was narrated by a teenager writing in a Filipino national magazine. A Chinese family moved into their neighborhood. For the local Filipino families, the new neighbors were simply “aliens”. The natives did not have much sympathy for them. The Chinese who immigrated to the Philippines are good businessmen and generally acquire more material resources than the local folks. Their business acumen and financial success sometimes generate a feeling of resentment among the natives. One day, the poor neighbors heard much bustling and activity from the rich Chinese home. They heard pigs being butchered and saw domestic helpers moving about laden with groceries. Enormous vessels of food were cooked outdoors. The aroma of delightful dishes stimulated not only the neighbors’ appetite, but also their curiosity. In the evening, the domestic helpers of the Chinese newcomers scurried through the neighborhood, lugging a most welcome gift for each poor family: a big wicker basket filled with a mouth-watering dinner to satisfy their hungry stomachs: “adobo” – a spicy pork dish, “pancit” – made of egg noodles and stir fry vegetables, and “leche flan” – a special creamy custard. There were also nicely cooked white rice and delicious, ripe fruits to make the unforgettable meal complete. Instead of hosting a dinner party for their relatives and friends, the Chinese family creatively celebrated the birthday of their daughter by preparing food baskets for their poor neighbors. The enterprising character of their charity slowly demolished the resistance of the local folks who eventually became their friends.
This Sunday’s Gospel reading (Lk 16:1-13) is composed of the parable of the crafty steward (verses 1-8) and several of Jesus’ sayings about the right use of money (verses 9-13). According to the biblical scholar, Eugene Maly: “In the parable the manager, about to be dismissed, calls in the master’s debtors and reduces their bills (probably by renouncing part or all of his own commission) in order to gain their good will for the future. The lesson intended by Jesus is simply that we should be as enterprising about our future in the Kingdom as was the manager about his future. No judgment, good or bad, is made on the possession of goods.”
Indeed, in the parable of the wily manager is Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to be enterprising in the pursuit of the kingdom of God. At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus said to his disciples: “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light” (Lk 16:8). In it is a powerful appeal to Christian followers, not only to be creative in the ways of kingdom stewardship, but also to be radically decisive when confronted with a crisis situation concerning God’s reign. Robert Karris remarks: “The steward was decisive when faced with a crisis, so too should Jesus’ listeners who are wavering in their decision to follow him and his kingdom message.”
An enterprising kingdom stewardship entails prudent use of wealth, day-to-day fidelity and trustworthiness in the management of earthly goods, and putting absolute priority on the spiritual reality over material goods. Jesus exhorted his disciples: “I tell you, make friends for yourself with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Lk 16:9). The disciples of Jesus are to convert material wealth into heavenly capital by sharing them with the poor and needy. Indeed, there is only one honest and prudent way of using material goods: helping the poor. The French writer, Bossuet urged the rich to show this foresight: “Come then, you rich, into his Church: its door is finally open to you; but it is open to you because of the poor, on the condition of your serving them. It is for the love of his children that Jesus Christ permits entry to strangers. Behold the miracle of poverty! Yes, the rich were strangers; but service to the poor has naturalized them and serves to rid them of the contagion that lies in the midst of their riches. Therefore, you rich of this age! Seize as many grand titles as you please: you can wear them in the world; in the Church of Christ, you are only servants of the poor.”
Jesus also told his disciples: “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?” (Lk 16:9-12). Jesus’ sayings have vital implications for us in this world and in God’s kingdom. Trustworthiness in small things leads to a greater trust in the realm of physical stewardship as well as spiritual realities. If we do not share our material and spiritual possessions, we will not be entrusted with the true, heavenly reality. If we share our material wealth and spiritual goods, we will receive the ultimate treasure of heaven – the love of God and full communion with him in eternity. Trustworthiness in dealing with material goods means daily faithfulness in using them with prudence and restraint in order to promote the advent of God’s kingdom on this earth. The early Church Father, Gaudentius of Brescia writes: “We have been entrusted with the administration of our Lord’s property to use what we need with thanksgiving, and to distribute the rest among our fellow servants according to the needs of each one. We must not squander the wealth entrusted to us, nor use it on superfluities, for when the Lord comes we shall be required to account for our expenditure … For if someone cannot be relied on to administer worldly possessions that provide the means for all sorts of wrongdoing, would anyone dream of trusting that person with the true heavenly riches rightly and deservedly enjoyed by those who have been faithful in giving to the poor?”
Today’s Gospel passage concludes with Jesus’ reminder:
“No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the
other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
mammon” (Lk 16:13). The authors of the Days of the Lord, vol. 6,
explain: “What the saying proclaims is undeniable when it is a question, as it
is here, of the service of God and Money. To serve with respect to
God, has a strong significance; it implies an engagement of the whole person, an
absolute preference, an undivided love … Serving amounts to adoring,
worshipping. Applied to money, the term means the same thing, for Jesus speaks
of money as an idol. The Gospel here calls it mammon, a name that
personifies it as a power that rules the world. We see all too often that money
can be an idol to which everything is sacrificed … In short, one must choose:
God or the god Money. It is impossible to serve both at once. No compromise may
be made between them. One is faced with unavoidable choice.”
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. Do I belong to “the children of light”? If so, do I respond positively to Jesus’ challenge to be creative and enterprising in promoting God’s kingdom?
B. How do I manage material and spiritual goods? Is it with prudence, trustworthiness and personal dedication? Or is it with undue attachment to possessions?
C. What is my decisive response to Jesus’ assertion: “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Lk 16:13)? What is my fundamental choice and primary directive?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Loving Father,
grant us the grace to be enterprising
in the pursuit of your kingdom.
Help us to use creatively
the spiritual and material goods you have given us
by sharing them with the poor and needy.
May we be faithful and trustworthy in managing the goods
you have entrusted to us, your children.
Above all, may we love and serve you alone,
our true treasure and absolute good
for we have gleaned the truth of Jesus’ saying:
“You cannot serve both God and mammon”.
As the lowly stewards of your gifts,
we adore you, love you and praise you, now and forever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“You cannot serve both God and mammon.” (Lk 16:13).
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray in supplication for those who find themselves tempted with the cult of mammon and have fallen victims to this terrible temptation.
B. ACTION PLAN: With the aid of material and spiritual possessions given you by the Lord, minister to the needs of the poor. Find a creative and enterprising way of relieving the plight of the poor.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US