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Gospel: Luke 17: 7-10
Jesus said to the Apostles:
“Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.’”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One important theme in the bible is stewardship. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with managing something important that belongs to another.
In the Old Testament, the prophets were stewards of God’s Word. They were entrusted with listening to, then sharing God’s message with Israel. Often that message involved repentance, or turning back to God.
Other figures, such as Noah and Moses, were stewards of God’s covenants.
Noah was responsible for guiding God’s animals into the ark before the great flood. Moses was the steward of the 10 Commandments, ensuring Israel remained faithful to their end of the covenant.
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In the New Testament, Jesus often speaks in parables, using stewardship as a way to describe all of humanity’s responsibility to guard and govern God’s creation.
This not only involves caring for the physical world around us, but also the relationships we hold most dear.
For example, both a husband and a wife are stewards of their marriage.
Priests are stewards of the Sacraments.
We are stewards of this parish.
All of us are stewards of the gift of faith, which God has planted in our hearts.
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What we do with these gifts matters.
Think of the parable Jesus gives about the three stewards entrusted with their Master’s fortune.
One was given 10 talents, another 5, another 1. Those entrusted with 5 and 10 talents doubled their Master’s fortune, while the steward entrusted with 1 talent buried it in the sand. He was harshly condemned.
God expects us to care for the gifts he has given us – Sacraments, creation, a marriage, friendships, fortune, faith – not because we expect anything in return; rather, because everything we have been given is ultimately his.
Using today’s Gospel imagery, we are merely “unprofitable servants,” doing what we are obliged to do.
What am I a steward of? How will I care for that today?
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Image credits: (1) St. Lawrence Catholic Church (2) Faith Lutheran Church (3) Coram Deo