Daily
Thoughts:
The Gospel for today (Luke 16:1-8), always seems to be a confusing one. What
exactly is Jesus saying? It seems that Jesus is praising the unfaithful steward
just because he figures out a way to land on his feet after being fired.
Perhaps the key word for Gospel today is “prudence” or maybe a better word
might be “cleverness.”
Jesus
says the steward is prudent, that he is shrewd, pragmatic and has foresight.
However as I said above we might also say that the steward is clever, meaning
he is shrewd, ingenious, crafty and skillful. Prudence and cleverness share
some of the same meanings and in some instances could be used to say the same
thing.
As I
prepared for mass this morning I has these thoughts about the prudent and
clever steward and what Jesus might be getting at in the Gospel…
In
our world there are many prudent and clever people. Often as a world, a
culture, a society we put our cleverness to work in many ways. We invent
machines and systems that can protect us and destroy our enemies. We have invented
the internet, cellphones and computers that help us communicate better, work
fast and be more productive. We invent sophisticated systems to warn us of
impending disasters like hurricanes, tsunamis and other nature made events. We invent
systems to spy on one another, to hack computers and disrupt communications. We
invent instruments of war some of which that can destroy the world. We are very
clever people.
Yet
up to this point in history we have not been able to figure out how to feed
everyone, how to cloth everyone or how to give everyone shelter. Perhaps this
gets at the point that Jesus’ is making with his parable. The people of the
world are very clever but sometimes people of faith are not. We put our
prudence, our cleverness, our shrewdness, our foresightedness, our skillfulness
to work for ourselves, but as people of faith, it might be time to put it to
work for others.
We
can learn for the cleverness of the world but only if our cleverness leads us
to bring God to the world.
I
think Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ said it best when he wrote, “Someday,
after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness
for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the
world, [humankind] will have discovered fire.”
Let
us be clever people of faith and discover for the world God’s love once again.
Have
a great Friday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
Loving God do not be remote from us today. Be in our work, our travel, our
offices, our meetings, our relationships, our loved ones, our tasks, our
journeys, our alone moments, our homes – in our thoughts, our words and in our
hearts. Amen!
A Runner’s
Thoughts: “If
you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.” (Kathrine Switzer) If you are losing
faith in yourself go to the celebration of the Eucharist and look around at the
community of faith that is struggling with you!
Daily
Blessings:
Friday greetings and blessings to all. I
have returned from my time in Columbus, Indiana. It was a long drive yesterday,
14 hours but I got home safe and sound around midnight and I was up early this
morning so that I could celebrate mass at Mount St. Michael’s High School so
you might say I am back in the swing of things. It looks to be a warm and sunny
day here in Pelham. I hope your day has started off well and that you to will
get to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.
It
was a great mission at St. Bartholomew’s and as I mentioned during the week a
wonderful way to celebrate the beginning of my 62nd year of life.
St. Bartholomew’s is a wonderful faith community and I enjoy celebrating mass
with the school yesterday before I life!
May
God bless us all this Friday with truth, love, enthusiasm, energy and life. So
that we may always walk the journey, dance to the music, sing the tune and
embrace the gift of God that we are, making today and everyday worth
remembering! Blessings to all. Have a great Friday everyone! Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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