Daily Liturgy
Wednesday October 20
TWENTY-NINETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FREE AND VIGILANT
Introduction
Persons who have been set free from the slavery of sin, says Paul, should live in the grace of God as free persons. They can only serve what is right and good. They should live as a free and responsible Christians.
In the Gospel, Luke speaks of the vigilance of Christians and their leaders. They are responsible for the grace and the talents God has given them. And, says Jesus, the more has been given to us, the more is expected of us, the more we have to be responsible for those entrusted to us.
Opening Prayer
Our God and Father,
in the generosity of your creative imagination
you distribute among people
a variety of gifts and talents
of mind and heart and grace.
Convince us, Lord, that what we have received,
we have received for others,
that if we have been given more,
we are not greater or better,
only responsible for more.
Help us to use what we are and have
in the service of others.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reading 1: Rom 6:12-18
Brothers and sisters:
Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies
so that you obey their desires.
And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin
as weapons for wickedness,
but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life
and the parts of your bodies to God
as weapons for righteousness.
For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves
to someone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin,
you have become obedient from the heart
to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8
(8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us,
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us–
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive;
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers’ snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Alleluia: Mt 24:42a, 44
Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: 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 finds 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 the servant 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.”
Intercessions
– That the Church may bring the light of faith where there is darkness and indifference, hope where there is fatalism and despair, and love where there is hatred and strife, we pray:
– That those who are discouraged by trials and by their troubles and fears may keep believing and hoping in a God who brings everything to a good end, we pray:
– That all of us may grow in the certainty that our commitment to justice and love and our dedicated service in life are needed to help God’s promises come true, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
let these signs of bread and wine
express that we are willing
to serve you and people
in responsible freedom.
Let your Son share with us
his strength and loyalty,
to make us wise and faithful stewards
of the message of justice and love
entrusted to us by Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
to let us know that you expect of us
more than we are capable of,
you have given us again
the word and body of your Son.
Help us to live according to the gospel
as people set free by Jesus
and responsible with him
for the progress in this world
of integrity and love.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
“From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required,” says Jesus. We have received much from God, our faith, our capacity to love, pardon of our sins. Let us thank the Lord and ask for the blessing of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Sinfulness or Christian stewardship? In our present circumstances, it is always possible to revert to a state of sin by letting it reign over our bodies and surrendering to the bodys desires. However, since we have been raised from death to new life, our bodies are ruled by grace to perform works of righteousness. Since we are no longer under the law but under grace, our conduct should correspond to this new reality. We are now slaves to the one we obey. There are only two choices: to sin, which leads to death, or to follow God, which leads to righteousness. The latter is the choice that we have made.
In terms of responsibility, we are now stewards of the things of God. Before going away on a trip, the master of an estate entrusts his steward with certain tasks, hoping he will work hard. But if the steward abuses the servants of the house while the master is away, then the master will punish him severely when he comes home. An interesting note of lesser guilt is introduced at this point. If the servant is ignorant of the master’s will and acts inappropriately, he will receive a lighter punishment. The point of the parable: where much has been entrusted, much will be required.
In our times, the moral failures of those entrusted with responsibility in the church has caused great scandal. But much is expected of religious leaders precisely because it is grace, not sin, to which they profess their obedience. They also profess to be responsive to the needs of the Christian community. It is a sacred trust. Negligence only diminishes credibility.
Points to Ponder
The obedience of grace
Stewardship within the church
Moral failure in stewardship