ST CHARLES BORROMEO (Memorial) White

He was born to a wealthy and noble family. He was an archbishop and suffered a speech impediment. He fought tirelessly for peace during the storm of Martin Luther’s reformation. He founded schools for the poor, built hospitals, and established seminaries. He worked tirelessly for the sick. He was canonised by Pope Paul V in 1610.   

First Reading: Phil 3:17-4:1; Psalm: 112 R. v. 1; Gospel: Lk 16:1-8

VISIONARY STEWARDSHIP

BY FR VALENTINE NNAMDI EGBUONU, MSP

“Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.”(Lk 16:2).

Generally in life, when we are taken unawares we often finds it too late to get prepared so as to do things properly in an organised way. Good preparation they say prevents poor performance. But we will be on a safe side when we are always prepared on what is important and required of us. Every human being has the vision to anticipate possibilities. If we are attending a wedding party for instance, we can anticipate that we could be called upon to pray or make a toast. Wisdom then behoves us to be prepare for possibilities like this.

We can also evaluate our preparedness on doing the things of God with this insight. The steward in today’s gospel never anticipated that his master would suddenly ask him to turn in the account of his stewardship. His day of reckoning came so sudden that he began to think of what exactly to do. The truth is that we would not have the time to right our wrongs when God suddenly asks us to turn in the account of our stewardship. So it is safe for us to be prepared for this unpredictable reality. And we can only do this by righteous living.

We can pause a little and scan through our account of stewardship in our various responsibilities. As priests, religious, teachers, doctors, workers, parents, young adults, teenagers, or even children; God will judge us all within our own strata. Every passing day is an opportunity for us to evaluate our dedication, faithfulness and efficiency in the various responsibilities entrusted to us. Our faith as Christians should shine out in all that we do because every opportunity to serve is an opportunity given by God of which we must account for. If we are conscious of this, we should sit up and always do what is right.  

 PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Lord Jesus, may we be found faithful and ready when you come. Amen.