Introit (Ps 47:10-11 | ibid., 2) (Audio)
We have received Your mercy, O God, in the midst of Your temple. According to Your name, O God, so also is Your praise unto the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of justice. Ps. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, on His holy mountain. ℣. Glory be to the Father...
Collect
Graciously grant us, O Lord, that we may always think what is right and do it, so that, who cannot exist without You, may live according to Your will. Through Our Lord.
Epistle (Rom 8:12-17)
Brethren: We are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba! (Father!) And this Spirit gives testimony to our spirit that we are the children of God. And if we are children, then we are also heirs; heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
Gradual (Ps 30:3; Ps 70:1 | Ps 47:2) (Video) (Video-alleluia)
Be unto me a God, a protector and a place of refuge to save me. ℣. In You, O God, have I hoped; let me never be confounded, O Lord. Alleluia, alleluia. ℣. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, on His holy mountain. Alleluia.
Gospel (Lk 16:1-9)
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples this parable: There was a certain rich man who had a steward; and he was accused to him of wasting his goods. And he called him, and said to him: What is this that I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, since my lord takes away the stewardship from me? I cannot dig; and to beg I am ashamed. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors, and said to the first: How much do you owe my lord? He answered: A hundred measures of oil. And the steward said to him: Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then he said to another: And you, how much do you owe? He answered: A hundred bushels of wheat. He said to him: Take your bill, and write eighty. And the lord praised the unjust steward, because he had acted wisely; for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. Therefore, I say to you: Make friends with the mammon of iniquity, so that when you die, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.
Reflection
🙏 The mercy of God, celebrated in the Introit, is not only a gift received but a call to interior conversion, so that the human heart, dwelling in the temple of God, may conform to divine justice and turn away from the corruption of the world.
(Saint Augustine, Sermons on the Psalms, 47)
📜 The Epistle teaches us that divine sonship, granted by the Spirit, is a participation in the life of Christ, which frees us from servile fear and makes us heirs of glory, provided that we mortify earthly passions.
(St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, 14)
💡 The Gospel reveals that the prudence of the children of this world, although aimed at earthly ends, challenges the children of light to use temporal goods with wisdom, ordering them toward the charity that leads to eternity.
(St. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, 18)
💎 In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus exhorts us to lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, complementing the idea in Luke 16:1-9 of using temporal wealth for spiritual ends, while emphasizing the impermanence of earthly goods.
❤️ In John 15:12-17, the commandment of mutual love as the criterion for friendship with Christ adds a relational dimension to the use of wealth mentioned in Luke, suggesting that true friendship with God is manifested in fraternal charity.
✨ In 1 Corinthians 10:31, St. Paul teaches that all must be done for the glory of God, broadening Luke’s Gospel perspective by showing that even worldly actions, such as the use of wealth, must be ordered to a supernatural end.
⚔️ In Galatians 5:16-17, Paul highlights the conflict between flesh and Spirit, complementing the Epistle (Romans 8:12-17) by making explicit that life according to the Spirit demands constant struggle against carnal desires, reinforcing the need for mortification.
📚 The Catechism of Trent (1566) teaches that divine sonship, mentioned in the Epistle, implies conformity to God’s will in all actions, reinforcing that the grace of the Holy Spirit enables us to live as heirs of Christ, not merely in hope, but in concrete acts of virtue.
