The Feast of St Charles Borromeo | Friday 4 November 2022

Today is Friday the 4th of November, the feast of St Charles Borromeo, in the 31st week of Ordinary time.

The community of Taizé sing Behüte mich, Gott : “Keep me God, for I trust in you. You show me the path of life. With you there is fullness of joy.”

Behüte mich Gott, ich vertraue dir
Du zeigst mir den Weg zum Leben
Bei dir ist Freude, Freude in Fülle

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 16:1-8

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

What is your own first reaction to the man that this parable calls the “dishonest manager”?

What is Jesus’s first reaction to this same key character here?

Jesus praises the man, not for his dishonesty, but for his shrewdness. What might be involved practically in you, as a follower of Christ, becoming more shrewd in this way?

As you listen to the passage for a second time, notice the manager’s own reasoning.

In some ways this is one of the more puzzling parables. Talk for a moment or two to Jesus, the one who composed it, about what has struck you as you have prayed with it here.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.