Are we true Stewards of God?

Gospel LK 16:1-13

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.’  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.’  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 the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’  He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’  The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’  And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.  “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.  I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.  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?  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.”

In today’s Gospel we are hearing the Parable of the dishonest Steward. Each of us are also stewards to the Lord our God. A steward is a person who manages property or money for the true owner. We are all stewards because God created all and is the true owner of all. Are we true and honest stewards of God within our lives, or are we like the steward in the Gospel reading today?  How many times do we see the possessions and resources we have been charged with as our own?  How many times do we use these for our own human purposes instead of in the way that God who truly owns them, has entrusted us to use them for his glory?

Everything upon the earth belongs to God our heavenly Father, not only material things and resources, but also all of our brothers and sisters, who God also created.

In truth we are all less than worthy stewards because we each fall short of the Glory of God. We are called to love each other as God loves us, to feed and clothe the poor and to the spread the true word of the salvation of God to all upon his earthly Kingdom. Do we love all as we ought? Do we use all that has been entrusted to us to teach, feed and nourish the children of God as our Father asks of us, or do we wallow in materialism and Greed? We cannot serve two masters, both God our Father and earthly wealth and possessions. We shall all be brought to account for our way of undertaking the stewardship that we have been given. Let us pray to our heavenly Father to ask for his guidance in being the true stewards that he has called each of us to be:

Heavenly Father,

You are an amazing God—steadfast in your love, abundant in your mercy, and wise in your actions. You are a wonderful creator God who has provided a magnificent creation with abundant resources for us to enjoy. We recognize our sinfulness and thank you for your mercy and grace extended to us through Jesus on the cross.

Your word tells us in James 1:5 that those who ask for wisdom in faith will receive it. Today, we pray for wisdom and for understanding in how to best steward the resources you have given while demonstrating love toward our fellow brothers and sisters.

Lord, we desire to be good stewards. We do not want to waste resources or use them selfishly with sinful desires of personal gain. Yet, we understand that the second greatest commandment is to love others as ourselves. As we create policies that help us protect the environment and use our resources wisely, please grant us wisdom that we will not value the created earth over humans created in your image. Please allow us wisdom to create policies and practices that allow for human flourishing all across the globe.

Allow us to align our priorities with yours in valuing the souls for which you died more than the resources we steward. Allow us to have a greater passion for the Gospel and spreading the Good News that changes lives than we have for making sure the earth never changes. God grant us wisdom to know when to speak and when to act so that we live in such a way as to glorify you with all of our words and our deeds, and may your name be exalted among every tribe and tongue. In Jesus name we pray through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Today we celebrate the nativity of the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ and our heavenly mother.

All parents are filled with such joy at the birth of their children. We try to bring them up to be the best which they can be in the world. Our heavenly Father who created us and who knows each of us before our birth is no different. He also is filled with joy at our birth and wants the best for us.

God already has plans for each of our lives and for exactly which role we shall fill within his kingdom on earth.

Some may eventually become Bishops, priests, ministers of the word or professed religious. For others, it may be growing up to work in the care profession, to be a Dr or nurse, carer and so on,or to teach our future adults in schools, colleges or universities. They may be in support roles such as social or charitable work. Whatever the role the Father has planned for us, all are valuable and necessary for his Kingdom on earth.

But just imagine if you can, that in this case, we have St Joachim and St Anne, who were both unable to bear children. Imagine the joy here when, because of their faith, they were given their daughter Mary. What such a special gift and blessing!!

However, not just St Joachim and St Anne were blessed by the birth of Mary, as indeed we all have been blessed!

God chose that Mary would grow up to become the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he came down to earth as one of us. It is Mary who loved and nurtured Our Lord and who suffered so much incomprehensible sorrow and heartbreak when Jesus gave himself to be crucified for the atonement of our sins.

Through this most blessed role, Mary became our Mother in heaven who is there interceding with her Son on our behalf.

This innocent new baby, Mary, grew up so full of faith and gave herself totally and freely to the will of God our Father. When the angel Gabriel came to her to proclaim that she would bear a son and that he would be the Son of the Most High, Mary replied, “I am the Lord’s servant” May your word to me be fulfilled”.(LK 1:38 NIV)

Such Faith and devotion!

We can all learn so much in our lives from the life and faith of Mary. Her life clearly shows us how we should accept in true faith the plans that God our Father has for our lives, so that like Mary, we may be instruments of his glory.

With this in our hearts and minds, let us pray:

God Our Father, give your chosen people your help and strength. The birth of the Virgin Mary’s Son was the dawn of our salvation. May our celebration of her nativity bring us closer to lasting peace and may the virtues that she modelled develop in our lives,to love you and our neighbours more perfectly. Grant this we pray, through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

When Jesus left the Pharisee’s house, great crowds followed Him, but He was not impressed by their enthusiasm. He knew that most of those in the crowd were not the least bit interested in spiritual things. Some wanted only to see miracles, others heard that He fed the hungry, and a few hoped He would overthrow Rome and establish David’s promised kingdom. They were expecting the wrong things.

Jesus turned to the multitude and preached a sermon that deliberately thinned out the ranks. He made it clear that, when it comes to personal discipleship, He is more interested in quality than quantity. In the matter of saving souls, He wants His house to be filled, but in the matter of personal discipleship, He wants only those who are willing to pay the price.

A ‘disciple’ is a learner, one who attaches himself or herself to a teacher in order to learn a trade or a subject. Perhaps our nearest modern equivalent is ‘apprentice,’ one who learns by watching and by doing. The word disciple was the most common name for the followers of Jesu Christ and is used 264 times in the Gospels and the book of Acts.

Jesus seems to make a distinction between salvation and discipleship. Salvation is open to all who will come by faith, while discipleship is for believers willing to pay a price. Salvation means coming to the cross and trust Jesus Christ, while discipleship means carrying the cross and following Jesus Christ. Jesus wants as many sinners saved as possible, but He cautions us not to take discipleship lightly, and in the three parables He gave, He made it clear that there is a price to pay.

To begin with, we must love Christ supremely, even more than we love our own flesh and blood. The word hate does not suggest positive antagonism but rather ‘to love less.’ Our love for Christ must be so strong that all other love is like hatred in comparison. In fact, we must hate our own lives and be willing to bear the cross after Him.

What does it mean to ‘carry the cross?’ It means daily identifications with Christ in shame, suffering, and surrender to God’s will. It means death to self, to serve Him as He directs. A ‘cross’ is something we willingly accept from God as part of His will for our lives. The Christian who called his noisy neighbors the ‘cross’ he had to bear certainly did not understand the meaning of dying to self.

Jesus gave three parables to explain why He makes such costly demands on His followers: the man building a tower, the king fighting a war, and the salt losing its flavor. The usual interpretation is that believers are represented by the man building the tower, the king fighting the war, and we had better ‘count the cost.’ Truthfully the builder and the king represents not the believer but Jesus Christ. He is the one who must ‘count the cost’ to build the church and battle the enemy. He cannot get the job done with halfhearted followers who will not pay the price.

Discipleship is serious business. If we are not true disciples, then Jesus cannot build the tower and fight the war. If we will tell Jesus that we want to take up our cross and follow Him as His disciples, then He wants no false expectancy, no illusions, no bargains. He wants to use us as stones for building His church, soldiers for battling His enemies, and salt for bettering His world, and He is looking for quality.

After all, He was on His way to Jerusalem when He spoke these words, and look what happened to Him there! He does not ask us to do anything for Him that He has not already done for us.

To some Jesus says, ‘You cannot be MY disciple.’ Why? Because they will not forsake all for Him, bear shame and reproach for Him, and let their love for Him control them. They are the losers. Will you be His disciple?

Today is the Memorial of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. He was born in 1090 in France, and died there in 1153. He was the abbot of a monastery in what became known as Clairvaux, a confessor, and a Doctor of the Church. From our vantage point today, looking back 800 years, we recognize that he was a man of sincere beliefs, a lover of God and the Blessed Mother, a mediator and salesman for the Roman Catholic Church, and a man of contradictions.

First, let us look at the reading from today’s Mass, Ezekiel, Chapter 43, Verses 1 through 7.

The angel led me to the gate which faces the east,
and there I saw the glory of the God of Israel
coming from the east….

It continues to describe the vision he had of the temple, and of the calamities befalling the Holy Land and its inhabitants, and in this passage illustrates the temple itself and what happened to him there. God was speaking to him: “…here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.”

And in the Responsorial Psalm, we see the echo of these words:

1. The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.
   The LORD himself will give his benefits;
   our land shall yield its increase.
   Justice shall walk before him,
   and salvation, along the way of his steps.

How fitting that these readings should be found in the memorial mass of St. Bernard.

Isn’t it true that we tend to look backwards in time and see only a few highlights? Don’t we think of the early Middle Ages as a time of kings and queens and knights and pages and wars and the beginnings of the crusading spirit? Don’t we see it as a time fixed in amber, with what we consider “history” encapsulating a small insect or artifact representing the whole era?

In reality, St. Bernard lived in a time about as tumultuous as our own. Yes, there were kings and queens and all the characters of our historical novels and movies. But just as today, there were disputes over territory, the wording of Bible passages, the meaning of life…all the issues we face but with considerably more complexity since the forms of governance and separation of powers and cultural norms were not nearly as codified as we know them today.

And in this mix is St. Bernard, a man of God who had all the temptations and misdirections and questions we have. He was a man of such intellect, charisma, and organizational expertise that the monastery he founded at Clairvaux grew so rapidly that they had to send out monks to other parts of Europe to relieve the overflow in the founding house.

He travelled around France and Italy and Sicily to garner support for the legitimacy of Pope Innocent II, disputed with Peter Abelard, and preached the Second Crusade, among his many activities. His  disagreement with Abelard centered on what he said was the application of logic where logic didn’t belong and was therefore illogical. Admittedly, this is a major condensation of the argument, but it points to an important contribution of St. Bernard to the time.

St. Bernard was not one to close his eyes to the new applications of philosophical thinking, but with Abelard showed that while reason and logic were valuable to the growth of our intellect, there are certain truths, embodied in the teachings of Jesus and the scriptures that should not be disputed “logically.” One example of this kind of thinking can be found in his complete devotion to the Blessed Mother. St. Bernard referred to her as the Mediatrix, but did not believe in the Immaculate Conception. Faith and reason residing in the same person. It was his desire to bring order and sense to the tumult which was the 12^th Century that resonates with the first reading where Ezekiel is showing God’s desire to set things aright after a period of chaos.

Which brings me to today’s Gospel.

To me, this completely encapsulates St. Bernard’s life and work. All worldly show, all human knowledge, all accomplishments and discoveries, in fact, everything that humans strive for are nothing as compared to the love of God and one’s neighbor. Whatever we show to the world and desire from the world must be put to this test: “You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.” So no matter how learned he was, how fervent in his warlike desire to protect the Holy Land, how partisan he was in backing one pope over another, beneath all this he was a servant of man and of God. And he remained true to this devotion to Jesus and Mary to the end of his life.

Would that we could all be like this.

Lord, move in us the desire to search out new vistas, new knowledge, new advancements. But keep us always mindful of your humility and grace, and give us the courage and logic of St. Bernard that after 800 years still holds truth as that precious artifact within the gemstone of amber.

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”  He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.   “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.   He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:  I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.   There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;  and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’  Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”  Luke 12:13-21

At this point, a man in the crowd interrupted Jesus and asked Him to solve a family problem (feud). Rabbis were expected to help settle legal matters, but Jesus refused to get involved. Why? Because He knew that no answer He gave would solve the real problem, which was covetousness in the hearts of the two brothers. As long as both men  were greedy no settlement would be satisfactory. Their greatest need was to have their hearts changed. Like too many people today, they wanted Jesus to serve them, but not save them.

Covetousness is an unquenchable thirst for getting more and more of something we think we need in order to be truly satisfied. It may be a thirst for money or the things that money can buy, or even a thirst for position and power. Jesus made it clear that true life does not depend on an abundance of possessions. He did not deny that we have certain basic needs. He only affirmed that we will not make life richer by acquiring more of these things.

Mark Twain once defined ‘civilization’ as ‘a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities,” and he was right. In fact, many Christians are infected with covetousness and do not know it. They think that Paul’s admonition in 1 Timothy 6 applies only to the ‘rich and famous.’ Measured by the living standards of the rest of the world, most believers in America are indeed wealthy people.

Jesus told this parable to reveal the dangers that lurk in a covetous heart. As you read it, test your own responses to this farmer’s various experience.

How do you respond to the wealthy farmer’s dilemma? Here was a man who had a problem with too much wealth! If we say, “I certainly wish I had that problem! we may be revealing covetousness in our hearts. If suddenly you inherited a great deal of wealth, would it create a problem for you? Or would you simply praise God and ask Him what He wanted you to do with it?

There are perils to prosperity. Wealth can choke the Word of God, create sinners and temptations, and give you a false sense of security. People say that money does not satisfy, but it does satisfy if you want to live on that level. People who are satisfied only with the things that money can buy are in great danger of losing the things that money cannot buy.

This farmer saw his wealth as an opportunity to please himself. He had no thoughts of others or of God.

How do you respond to the decisions of the rich man? Are you saying, “Now that is a shrewd business!”Save and have it ready for the future!” But Jesus saw selfishness in all that this man did, and He said the man was a fool. The world’s philosophy is “Take care of Number One!” But Jesus does not endorse that philosophy.

There is certainly nothing wrong with following good business principles, or even with saving for the future. Jesus does not encourage waste. But neither does Jesus encourage selfishness motivated by covetousness.

How do you respond to the farmer’s desires? Are you saying, “This is the life! The man has success, satisfaction, and security! What more could he want?” But Jesus did not see this farmer enjoying life; He saw him facing death! Wealth cannot keep us alive when our time comes to die, nor can it buy back the opportunities we missed while we were thinking of ourselves and ignoring God and others.

Jesus has made it clear that true life does not come from an abundance of things, nor does true success or security. This man had a false view of both life and death. He thought that life came from accumulating things and that death was far away.

Finally, how do you respond to the death of the boastful farmer? We are prone to say, “Too bad this fellow died just when he had everything going for him! How tragic that he could not finish his great plans.” But the greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind, but what lay before him; eternity without God! The man lived without God and died without God, and his wealth was but an incident in his life. God is not impressed with our money.