November 6, 2026
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 489
Reading 1
Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and
sisters,
and observe those who thus conduct themselves
according to the model you have in us.
For many, as I have often told you
and now tell you even in tears,
conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach;
their glory is in their “shame.”
Their minds are occupied with earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified Body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters,
whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110626.cfm
Commentary on
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Today, Paul continues to warn the Philippians about not
being led astray in the living of their Christian faith, and he urges them to
follow Paul’s own example. This might sound arrogant, but Paul, who had been
himself such a devout and observant Jew, is utterly convinced that his whole
life has now been taken over by Christ. As such, he now sees life in a
completely different way. He is equally convinced that the Way of Jesus goes
far beyond what the Law demands, and that it is the only test of a true
interior spirituality. He also urges them to use as models other members of the
community who see things the same way as Paul does.
Once again he deplores the presence of some who “live as
enemies of the cross of Christ”. Their lives are in glaring contrast to Paul’s
own conduct and to the truth of the Gospel. They are behaving in a way which
negates all that Jesus did for us by dying on the cross. Jesus’ death was our
liberation, and these people want to go back to a stifling and arid observance
of the Law.
Paul writes:
…their god is the belly…
This does not quite mean that they live to eat, but rather
that they have given a quite irrational importance to dietary laws. They act as
if a person who eats ‘clean’ food is good, and one who eats ‘unclean’ food is
bad. Jesus had this accusation thrown at him more than once. He responded by
saying it was not what went into the stomach that counted, but what came out of
the mouth and the heart.
Paul continues:
…their glory is in their shame…
This is a veiled reference to the prominence that
circumcision gives to the male sexual organ, something that in all modesty
(‘shame’ in actual meaning) we normally keep out of sight.
Furthermore:
…their minds are set on earthly things.
The Law is something “earthly”. Although it was given by God
on Mount Sinai, people’s goodness and virtue is being measured not by spiritual
values, but by the external, physical observance of certain actions and
rituals.
But it is different for the followers of Christ:
…our citizenship is in heaven…
That is, our eyes are focused not on the things we do in
this world, including religious actions, but on God our Father, on Jesus his
Son and our Brother, and on the Spirit that guides us into all truth and love.
We live here, we “work on [our] own salvation” (Phil 2:12) here, but ultimately
we do not belong here. We are on our way to a better home, where:
he will wipe every tear from their eyes… (Rev 21:4)
We look forward to the day when Christ Jesus, Saviour and
Lord of the whole universe, will come to take us to himself and transform our
corruptible selves into something glorious that shares the very life of God.
Jesus’ power, earned by his total obedience in accepting
death and given to him in his resurrection-ascension, is total and absolute. He
will “transform the body of our humiliation”, subject to weakness, decay and
death, to be like his glorious Body. The resurrection body, received already by
Christ, who is the “firstfruits”, will be shared by believers in the future
resurrection ‘harvest’. Then, the glorified Christ, as Alpha and Omega, will
draw all creation—us included—into total conformity with Himself, who is the image
of the Creator God.
So hang in there, urges Paul:
…stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
They are not to be led astray by the “dogs” and “cutters”
who do not understand the call of the Gospel and are creators of division.
Our communities, too, can be undermined by people who,
perhaps with good intentions, actually act against the spirit of the Gospel.
Sometimes they are those who want to turn the clock back and restore old
customs which the Church sees as no longer relevant in our day. Sometimes they
are those who neglect all tradition, and act in an individualistic and
self-centred way, where freedom becomes licence.
It is only by constant listening to God’s Word, constant
sharing and careful discernment of the signs of the times, that we can remain
faithful to the true spirit of Jesus’ teaching and the Gospel.
In the last sentence today, Paul expresses his deep
affection for the Philippians, arguably his favourite church community:
…my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my
joy and crown…
Once again the word “joy” comes in. And they are also his
“crown”, the high point, as it were, of his evangelising work. This is great
praise indeed for them.
How would Paul value our community or our local church, if
he were to come among us today? Would we be his joy? Could we be seen as a
crowning example of a Christian people?
Commentary on
Luke 16:1-8
After the three wonderful parables about God’s mercy and
longing for the reconciliation of the sinner, Luke swings back again in chapter
16 with two parables and related teaching about our use of material
possessions, and he puts some of the responsibility for our salvation back on
ourselves.
The first is a story about a rather dishonest steward or
manager. His responsibilities were to handle all the business affairs of his
employer. However, he had been mishandling his employer’s funds and was about
to be fired. In this context, one may also think of the prodigal son who
utterly wasted the inheritance his loving father had given him.
Immediately the steward begins to think of his future. He
does not have the strength to do manual labour, and to go begging would be a
terrible loss of face. So he thinks of a strategy by which he calls in all his
employer’s debtors and reduces the amounts they owe.
The debts incurred were considerable. One hundred measures
of olive oil was equivalent to about 800 gallons or the yield of 450 olive
trees. One hundred measures of wheat was equal to about 1,000 bushels or the
yield of 100 acres. Very few farmers would have had anything like that kind of
land in Jesus’ time.
By doing this favour, the steward hopes to be able to find
alternative employment with one of them. Surprisingly, his employer, far from
being angry, praises the farsightedness of his corrupt steward.
Some commentators question whether the steward was actually
acting dishonestly. Was he actually denying his employer money which he was
really owed, or was he rather writing off the ‘commission’ which he was
usuriously charging, thus inflating the proper amount owed? The Mosaic law
forbade taking interest on loans from fellow Jews, so one way of getting round
this was to overcharge debtors. By reducing the debts to the proper level, the
steward was correcting an injustice and, at the same time, making these debtors
favourably disposed towards him. Whatever the interpretation, the point Jesus
is making is the same: the steward acted with shrewdness and intelligence to
guarantee his future.
Jesus concludes by pointing out that the worldly (“the
children of this age”) are far more astute in providing for their future than
are those who are regarded as spiritual (”the children of light)”. Jesus is in
no way condoning the steward’s dishonest and corrupt behaviour. What he does
praise is his clear-sighted preparation for his future.
The lesson for us should also be clear. If a man can do that
for his earthly career, what about our future in the life to come? If we want
to guarantee our future life with God then we, too, need to take the necessary
steps. Those steps are clearly laid out in the Gospel. In general, they involve
a life which is built on truth and integrity, and on love, compassion and
justice with regard to the people around us. Our task is to work with God in
making his will our own and in building up the Kingdom. If we do this on a
daily basis, then we have nothing to worry about and our future is assured.
https://sacredspace.com/commentary
Friday,
November 6, 2026
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
God of power and mercy, only with your help can we offer you
fitting service and praise.
May we live the faith we profess and
trust your promise of eternal life. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 16: 1-8
Jesus said to his disciples, “There was a rich man and he had a steward
who was denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for
the man and said, “What is
this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward
any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the
stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging?
I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am
dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”
Then he called his master's debtors one by one.
To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred
measures of oil,”
he said. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down and quickly write fifty.” To another he said,
“And you, sir, how
much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat,” he said. The steward said,
“Here, take your bond and write eighty.” The master praised the dishonest steward for his
astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own
kind than are the children of light.”
Reflection
Today the Gospel presents a parable that concerns
administration of goods which is
found only in Luke’s Gospel. It is called the parable of the dishonest steward.
It is a disconcerting parable. Luke says: “The master praised the dishonest steward
for his astuteness.”
The master is Jesus himself and not the administrator or steward. How is that
Jesus praises a corrupt employee?
•
Luke 16: 1-2: The steward is threatened to lose his job. “There was
a rich man and he had a steward, who was denounced to him for being
wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, ‘What is this I hear about you?
Draw me up an account of your stewardship, because you are not to be my
steward anymore.’”
This example taken from the world of business and of work speaks for
itself. It refers to the existing corruption. The master discovers the
corruption and decides to send away the dishonest steward. The steward,
unexpectedly, finds himself in an emergency situation, obliged by the
unforeseen circumstances to find a way out in order to be able to survive. When
God becomes present in the life of a person, unexpectedly everything changes
and the person finds himself/herself in an emergency situation. The person has
to take a decision and find a way out.
•
Luke 16: 3-4: What to do? Which is the way out? “Then the
steward said to himself,
‘Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me what am I to do?
Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed.’” He begins to reflect to find
a way out. He analyses, one by one, the possible alternatives: to dig or work
the land in order to survive, he feels that he does not have the strength to do
this, and to beg, he would feel ashamed. He analyses things and calculates well the
possible alternatives. “Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when
I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.” It is a question
of trying to guarantee his future. The steward is coherent with his way
of thinking and living.
•
Luke 16: 5-7: Execution of the solution he found. “Then he
called his master’s debtors, one by one, and said to the first one: ‘How much
do you owe my master?’ ‘One hundred measures of oil,’ he said. The
steward said, ‘Here, take your bond, sit down and quickly write fifty.’ Then he
said to another one, ‘And you, sir, how much do you owe?’ ‘One hundred measures
of wheat,’ he answered. The steward said, ‘Here take your bond and write eighty.’” In
his total lack of ethics, the steward was coherent. The criteria of his action
are not honesty and justice, nor the good of the master whom he depends on to
live and to survive, but it is his own interest. He wants to have the guarantee
that there will be someone who will receive him in his house.
•
Luke 16: 8: The Master praises the dishonest
steward. And look this is the disconcerting conclusion: “The Master praises the dishonest steward
for his astuteness: For the children of this world are more astute in
dealing with their own kind
than are the children of light.” The word Master or Lord indicates Jesus
and not the rich man. The latter would never praise a dishonest employee
working with him in the service and that now he robs even more, 50 measures of
oil and 20 sacks of wheat! In the parable the one who extends the praise is
Jesus. He certainly does not praise the theft, but the presence of spirit of
the steward. He knew how to calculate things well and finds a way out, when
unexpectedly he finds himself without a job. In this way the children of this
world know how to be experts in their own things, and in the same way, the children
of light should learn from them to be experts in the solution to their
problems, using the criteria of the Kingdom and not the criteria of this world. “Be cunning as serpents
and innocent as doves” (Mt 10:
16).
Personal Questions
•
Am I coherent?
•
Which criteria do I use in the solution of my
problems?
Concluding Prayer
One thing I ask of Yahweh, one thing I seek:
to dwell in Yahweh's house all the days of my life, to enjoy the sweetness of
Yahweh, to seek out his temple. (Ps 27: 4)
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