Reflection for November 8 Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 16:1-8

Gospel: Luke 16:1-8

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 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.’ 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 the children of light.”

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Reflection:

Are you a good steward of the Lord? A steward in the context of our gospel is someone who manages properties on behalf of somebody else. The steward in our gospel did not measure up to his job so his master decided to replace him. 

What is the lesson for us, we who are mere stewards of the blessings of the Lord? We must always be good stewards of the blessings that the Lord has given us. For example, the riches that we have, we should use it not only for ourselves we should also share it most especially share it with those who can’t pay back our generosity. 

The same with our God given abilities and talents let us not only use it for ourselves. Let us also use it so that others may benefit from it. For example if we think that our God given ability is to write or to speak let us not only use it for our own profit. Let us also use it to advance the teachings of Jesus in this world.      

The mistake of the steward in our gospel is he squandered not only the property of his master. He also did not value the trust and confidence that his master gave him. Our Lord and Master is Jesus, let us not misuse whatever properties, abilities and talents that He gave us. And let us not ruin the trust and confidence that He gave us. 

Are we effective stewards of the Lord? – Marino J. Dasmarinas