Saint for the day: Leo the Great (died November 10, 461)
Scripture Readings for today’s Liturgy:
Romans 15:14 – 21 – Psal m 98 – Luke 16:1-8
I don’t often begin these reflections with “the bottom line” but today I was happily excited to find that the reflection in the Magnificat quoted St. Thomas Aquinas who said, “our prayer should be based on Psalm 27, “One thing I ask of the Lord and this I seek, to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life.” That verse was printed on my Vow Card at my 1st Profession in 1961. One other thought that was mentioned by two of my other commentators was based on going all the way back to Genesis and the “creation story” wherein God says over and over again, “… and God said, it is good!” And in the end, “… it is very good!” We need to hold on to those two quotes and come to the reality that God has created us in His own Image … and it is good! This does not negate the reality that, just like Adam and Eve, we will fall and stumble during our journey. In the end we will still hear God saying, “…it is good. It is very good.” Perhaps part of our “morning offering” should be that verse from Psalm 27, “One thing I ask of the Lord and this I seek, to dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life.” Here there is no room for “general intentions” we must make that our daily prayer especially when we realize our own sinfulness. God doesn’t love us because we are perfect. He loves us into perfection and saves us in our sinfulness. The ‘crafty steward’ in today’s Gospel won favor with his master when he showed charity towards his masters debtors. He wasn’t cheating his master. He was giving up his (unjust) cut of profits and in this he was praised.
Bottom Line? We have been blessed by God in so many ways and that blessing comes back to us only when we have been honest with what God has blessed us with. “Give and it will be given to you; poured and pressed into the folds of your garment to overflowing.” Hold out … saying, “I know what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build bigger ones… fool don’t you know that this very day your life will be taken from you?” (I’ll have to get the references to these quotes later.) Amen!