“Bro, park in that slot on your next visit. It’s free and secure too,” my friend Don said. He regularly invited me to preach to his prayer group called the Edsa Shrine Charismatic Community. Finding a free slot there took time because it was a busy mall. Then I’d rush to the church to give my talk. That’s why his offer was great news for me.

“The slot belongs to the church, but they gave me full authority to decide who can use it during our prayer meeting days,” he said. His reply reminded me of what stewardship is all about. I knew Don as a great steward of everything that God gave him. Sadly, I won’t see Don anymore because he unexpectedly died a month after our last conversation.

Today’s Gospel reminds us that we should use all our possessions wisely. We need to remember that everything we have belongs to God. 

We are merely stewards of it so we should use them for His glory. 

Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com)

reflect

We all came into this world with nothing. How can you use your God-given gifts so His name will be glorified?

Lord, teach me to be wise with everything You gave. Allow me to appreciate that eternal rewards are greater than any earthly possessions I have. Amen.

St. Joseph Khang, pray for us.

In today’s reading, Saint Paul urges the Philippians to follow the example of his life. Let us pray for the grace to be witnesses like Saint Paul—living examples of faith to those we dwell with and to everyone we encounter in our daily walk.

¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things. ²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ 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. ^4:1 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 | Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5

R: Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. 

¹ I rejoiced because they said to me, “We will go up to the house of the Lord.” ² And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. (R) ³ Jerusalem, built as a city with compact unity. ⁴ To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. (R) According to the decree for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. ⁵ In it are set up judgment seats, seats for the house of David. (R)

Gospel | Luke 16:1-8

We can avoid many troubles in life if we simply heed God’s Word and follow Him. This is the challenge of discipleship—the daily struggle to align our lives with that of Jesus' and to open our hearts to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. God continues to work in us, even when we do not pay attention to Him. He always keeps us on the path toward salvation.

Gospel Acclamation

Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

¹ Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. ² 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.’ ³ 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. ⁴ I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ 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.’ ⁷ 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.’ ⁸ 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 are the children of light.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read ISAIAH 61 - 63 today.

Sometimes, I miss the lockdowns of the 2020 pandemic. We seemed to be better people—more prayerful, kinder, and more helpful. But when the pandemic was declared over, we were suddenly back to our old ways—sometimes even worse than before. We didn’t seem to have learned the lessons of the pandemic—that it was not merely medical and economic in nature but, above all, spiritual.

Our First Reading today reminds us to never lose sight of the fact that our citizenship is in heaven, and therefore, we should make sure to not conduct ourselves as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Have we become an enemy of Jesus Christ’s cross? When you watch and listen to the news here and abroad, what you see are people acting like enemies of the cross of Christ—no more love and concern for others, everyone competing for attention, everything measured in monetary terms, etc. Social media has become the new religion; the cell phone, the new god. These new technologies were invented to bring us closer to one another, but they have only divided us and distanced ourselves from one another. Everybody wants to be in the limelight, doing all the crazy stuff to be popular with millions of followers—without realizing, as Saint Paul said, that “their glory is their shame.” Many have accepted the lies peddled in social media like abortion, euthanasia, genetic engineering, same-sex marriage or unions, and homosexual relationships that end in destruction. Facebook and Instagram have become the altars of those who have made their “stomach as their God,” flaunting their food on social media, insensitive to the plight of many who are hungry or starving.

How sad that as we become more affluent than before, the more our “minds are occupied with earthly things.” May we heed the call of Saint Paul today and follow his example. 

Fr. Nick Lalog

reflection question

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you look for? Pray hard. Most likely, you have fallen into the trap of this age.

Lord Jesus, I have distanced myself from You and from others. May I preoccupy myself more with Your Word than with the things of this world. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________