Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XXI).
We are back in our flat in Upper China Street in Kuching, just a five-minute walk from the Marian Boutique Lodging House, where we stayed for our first week here as we cleaned the flat and had the air-conditioning fixed. I woke this morning to the sound of the bells of Saint Thomas’s Cathedral across the street, the call to prayer from nearby mosques and interesting sounds from the neighbouring Chinese Taoist temple that we can see from our kitchen window.
But, before the day begins, before having breakfast, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Luke 12: 39-48 (NRSVA):
[Jesus said:] 39 ‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’
41 Peter said, ‘Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?’ 42 And the Lord said, ‘Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave says to himself, “My master is delayed in coming”, and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. 47 That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. 48 But one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.’
Today’s Reflection:
This Gospel reading is a difficult one this morning, not just because this and similar passages were used in the past to defend slave-owning and claim it had a Biblical mandate, but because it has also been used to portray God as a harsh and punitive task-master who must be obeyed out of fear.
But it ends with words that are at the heart of the reading: ‘From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded’ (Luke 12: 48).
Later in Saint Luke’s Gospel, in the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16: 1-13), we are told that whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?’
Being faithful with what is given to me is a familiar Gospel theme: it is found too in the parable of the talents. But being faithful with dishonest wealth and with wealth created by slaves treated cruelly are puzzling concepts, even if they remind us of the recent economic dilemmas in Ireland. Is it still possible to manage wealth in ways that are appropriate to, that witness to, that are signs of the Kingdom of God, and that seek the greater good of all?
On the other hand, do I think I am one of those people who has been given much in life, and how much is required of me in return, as a matter of social, communal responsibility?
We have been travelling much in the past week or two, and there is little comfort on an overnight long-haul flight when you are trying to sleep in your small allocated space and the passenger in front insists on pushing back that seat as far it goes.
At times like that, comfort might seem like a first-class seat on a flight. But, when it comes to choices, I would much prefer happiness over time-limited comfort, and an ordinary seat watching the sunset on the river or the waves on the beach always gives me the feeling of having received much in life.
A comfortable first-class seat on a flight is purely functional, and is only for so many hours. Sitting on a cheap chair by the sea watching the sunrise or the sunset brings me close to nature and reminds me of God’s eternal promises.
Here and back in England, we live in one-bedroom flats overlooking busy streets, and life below reminds me how I have been given much in my own life.
I can read, so I am better educated than over one billion people who cannot read at all.
I woke up this morning knowing I have more health than illness, unlike the million people who will not live through this week.
I have never lived through war, known the loneliness of imprisonment, suffered the agony of torture, or endured the pangs of starvation, unlike 500 million people in the world.
I can go to any meeting I want – political, religious or social – unlike more than 3 billion people in the world today.
I have food in the kitchen, clothes in the wardrobe, a roof over my head and a place to sleep, making me richer than 75 per cent of people in the world.
I have money in the bank and in my wallet, and spare change in my pocket, which puts me among the top eight per cent of the world’s wealthy.
I can write this and you are reading this, which means you and I are more educated than one billion people in the world today who cannot read.
‘From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded’ (Luke 12: 48).
Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 23 October 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Persistence in Prayer’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Ella Sibley, Regional Manager Europe & Oceania, USPG.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 23 October 2024) invites us to pray:
Holy God, we pray for your hopes for the world. Teach us and show us the places and people full of potential. Let us see with your vision.
The Collect:
Grant, we beseech you, merciful Lord,
to your faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins
and serve you with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Father of light,
in whom is no change or shadow of turning,
you give us every good and perfect gift
and have brought us to birth by your word of truth:
may we be a living sign of that kingdom
where your whole creation will be made perfect in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Almighty God,
in whose service lies perfect freedom:
teach us to obey you
with loving hearts and steadfast wills;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
