Spiritual Reflection: for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Spiritual Reflection: for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

“Give an account of thy stewardship.” (Luke 16:2)

How often we forget that we are not the masters of our lives, but stewards—caretakers—of what belongs to Another. Our soul, our body, our time, our talents, our families, our possessions, even the faith itself: none of these are our own by right. All are gifts entrusted to us by God, for a time, for a purpose, and with an end in view. One day, perhaps when we least expect it, the voice will come: “Redde rationem villicationis tuae.”—“Give an account of thy stewardship.”

The parable of the unjust steward is unsettling because the man is praised not for his honesty but for his foresight. He saw that he would be dismissed, and acted swiftly to secure his future. Our Lord holds up this worldly prudence not to endorse it, but to shame the sloth of the spiritually indifferent. “The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.” How many spend their days storing up riches that perish, managing portfolios and plans and prospects with diligence and energy—and how few spend even a fraction of that zeal in preparing for eternity.

We are warned: the day will come when all masks will fall. When our stewardship will be judged not by appearances, but by fidelity. Did I guard the innocence of my children? Did I nurture my vocation with prayer and sacrifice? Did I use the time entrusted to me to serve others or to serve myself? Did I use my influence to build the Kingdom of God or to secure my own comfort?

St. Paul reminds us in the Epistle that we are not debtors to the flesh, but to the Spirit. To live according to the flesh—to spend one’s life feeding appetites, seeking ease, grasping at vanity—is to walk the path of spiritual death. But to live according to the Spirit is to take seriously the judgment that awaits, and to live each moment as an act of love, offered back to God in thanksgiving and fidelity.

And here we must not despair. The same Lord who will call us to account has given us all that we need to be faithful stewards: grace through the sacraments, light through His word, strength in prayer, and His very Self in the Blessed Sacrament. It is never too late to begin again. Even the dishonest steward found time to act. How much more should we, who know the mercy of Christ, turn today and say: “Lord, I have wasted what was not mine. Help me now to begin to serve Thee truly.”

In the quiet of the Tridentine Mass, this Sunday reminds us that our days are numbered—but not meaningless. That each moment can be sanctified. That our judgment will not be arbitrary, but just, based on how we have used what we were given. In the offertory we cry out: “My times are in Thy hands.” Then let us entrust them to Him now, before they slip away forever.

O Jesus, faithful Steward of the Father’s mercy, grant me the wisdom to see that all I have is from Thee, and the courage to use it for Thee. May I be found faithful in little things now, that I may be entrusted with much in the life to come. Amen.