May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
We are invited to serve
many masters. We are, in fact, invited
to serve many many masters. We may
follow only one. Only one can be the
true master of our heart, our mind, our strength and our life. If we choose as our master something of earth,
the rewards are only of this earth. If
we accept the invitation of the Lord, and choose as our true and only master
Christ, the rewards are of heaven. We gather
for this celebration of the Eucharist to confirm once again our choice, that we
will follow Christ the Lord, and no other.
With every Amen, we confirm our choice.
How then, dear brothers and sisters, shall we follow Christ as our only
master?
We are invited to serve
our one master with boldness and creativity. The parable that we hear today from the Gospel
of Luke is one of the most difficult parables of the Lord Jesus. He seems to praise a dishonest steward, a
thief, and gives him to us as a model. But
looking closely at the parable we see that it is not the actions of the
dishonest steward that are praised. The
actions of the steward are dishonest and can never be praised. What the Lord Jesus praises are the prudence,
the boldness, and the creativity of the steward. The Lord Jesus challenges the disciples and
he challenges us to follow him with boldness and creativity. The dishonest steward probably sacrificed his
commission or payment in settling the accounts of the master. The dishonest steward was willing to
sacrifice something today in view of something better tomorrow. This was something prudent, bold and
creative. As we follow the only master,
Christ the Lord, we will often sacrifice what is immediate for what is eternal.
Following Christ with
boldness and creativity, we follow Christ our master in prayer and worship. In our reading from the letter of Paul to
Timothy we hear the apostolic instruction that prayers be offered for everyone. In particular, Paul asks that prayers be
offered for kings and rulers and all in authority. We continue to fulfill this command as we
pray for civil and government leaders in the intercessions of every Mass. We bring before the Lord the whole Church of
God and her leaders, the leaders of nations and peoples, the sick and those in
particular need, and we pray for mercy on those that the Lord has called unto
himself. The priestly people of God
offer prayers for the whole world as we then enter into union with Christ the
High Priest who is the one mediator between God and Man. We follow Christ the Lord as our only master
in prayer and worship.
But then dear brothers
and sisters, with boldness and creativity, we must follow Christ from prayer
and worship into service. Our worship of
the Father in Spirit and in Truth is not complete until we become in loving
service the Christ we have received in loving reverence. Christ has called us to transform us and
through us to transform the world. Our
reading today from book of the prophet Amos reminds us of the care of the Lord
for the poor. The prophet Amos, speaking
to those who exploited and mistreated the poor, warns them that the Lord God
will not forget their sins. The
mistreatment of the poor and the weak, Amos reminds us, is an offense unto God
and an offense against God. We do not
follow Christ the Master completely until we see him and serve him and love him
in the poor.
As we celebrate this
Eucharist today and join in the offering of the One Mediator, we continue to
follow Christ as our only Master. May we
receive the grace of boldness and creativity as we follow Christ in prayer and
service. And may our worship of Christ
today equip us and transform us for service tomorrow. Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe NC
