THE WORD

Eph 3,2-12 / Lk 12,39-48

[Jesus said to his disciples,] “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival nds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.  But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.  Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

IN OTHER WORDS

Paul speaks of stewardship as a grace and privilege while Jesus stresses it as being both urgent and obligatory for us. In the New Testament both Paul and Jesus see stewardship as evangelization, meaning, helping other people to come close to God and to each other.

The message in today’s readings is of particular importance during this year, dedicated to the Eucharist and the Family, as part of the general renewal of our Church in preparation for the five hundreth anniversary of her arrival in the Philippines. Some years ago Pope Saint John Paul II spoke of the family as the Munting Simbahan, the starting point of evangelization. This concept of family extends to all humanity as con rmed at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu last January.

Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium endorses at length and in more detail the words of Paul and  Jesus: “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples. The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized.

Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization, indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.” (# 120) Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in tomorrow’s first reading is an excellent illustration of the joy and hope of stewardship.

I would like finally to echo Pope Francis again: “For all this, I repeat: Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelization. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of hope!” (# 83 & 86)

• Fr. Alan Meechan, SVD | Naujan, Or. Mindoro