GOSPEL: Luke 16:1-13
He also 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.' 'And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings. Anyone who is trustworthy in little things is trustworthy in great; anyone who is dishonest in little things is dishonest in great. If then you are not trustworthy with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you are not trustworthy with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own? 'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'

​REFLECTION
Jesus has another parable for his disciples this week. It is the story of the rich man and his steward. Someone in the rich man’s household reported to the master that his steward had been squandering his money. Naturally the master immediately calls this servant in and asks to see a list of his expenses and the monies that he had spent.

The servant panics. He didn’t expect to get caught. Now what was he to do? Notice: he was not repentant. He simply wanted to ensure his future. He didn’t have the skills to become a laborer and he didn’t want to end up on the street. So the servant devised a plan. He calls in each of the master’s debtors and reduces the amount of money that they owed his master.

What is unbelievable is the master’s reaction when he discovers the steward’s dishonesty. Instead of firing the man or putting him in prison, he commends the steward for acting prudently. In today’s world, I doubt that this is how an employer would respond. It is more likely that the steward at the very least would find themselves out of a job or perhaps find themselves in jail!

At times in our lives, we find ourselves in a difficult and frightening situation. At these times do we turn to God? Do we trust God to give us another chance? The gift is: God always gives us another chance! Our part is to trust that God will never leave us! (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)

THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone for your support and kindness you display every day. It is what makes our Mt Carmel community so special. I hope that everyone has a safe and blessed Spring holiday and I look forward to seeing you all again next term.

​​God Bless,
Warren Ziebowski
Religious Education Coordinator