Discipleship - stewardship

Luke 12:42-46 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful

In this gospel, it is clear that “gloves are off” in the challenges Jesus puts to the Pharisees. It seems that Jesus has had enough. He has listened to and observed the hypocritical religious superiority of the Pharisees for long enough. They have become obstacles to the emergence of God’s kingdom in people’s lives. Their focus on petty rituals and purity fills them with pride and arrogance. They think they are better than ordinary people. Their situation is, in truth, far worse. They have moved away from God. Jesus is calling them to their senses.

Perhaps Jesus’s words challenge us also. Sometimes we can become complacent and assume that our way of living conforms to the Gospel. Our conversion is on-going. Perhaps I do not speak out when I should!. If so, I may need to pray to the Holy Spirit for wisdom in proclaiming Jesus’s message!

Lord, make me aware of my needless preoccupations and infuse my heart with your spirit of love and justice. Take my poor heart and make it like your own. Amen