For our prayer today I want to suggest a reversal of most reflections:
let's begin with the last line of the Gospel, which is a bit enigmatic,
and work our way back, OK? Here it is: "Much will be required
of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded
of the person entrusted with more." I ask myself these questions:
How does this apply to me? What is the "much" (or the
"little") with which I have been entrusted? Is there "more"
that I could be or am called to be entrusted with? What is it? What
holds me back from embracing it?
Now let us carefully consider Peter's question to Jesus when Jesus
told the short parable of the Son of Man coming like a thief in
the night: "Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?"
(Almost as if he were Irish, Jesus answers a question with another
question!) What do I think: how does it apply to me? And what is
my reply to the question of Jesus: Who, then, is the faithful and
prudent steward whom the master will put in charge?
All of the above questions, all of these considerations, all of
the applications I made to myself are, of course, about our response
to God's call to be partners with God in the sweep of God's plan
for the universe: to restore all things in Christ. How can, how
could we possibly with full confidence say "Yes" to that
invitation? Both the first reading and the psalm response give us
the answer, and they are worth relishing, repeating, and allowing
ourselves to be filled with gratitude and rejoicing. According to
Paul, we are women and men who have come back from the dead to life!
Already freed from sin and death by the Risen One, we are now servants
of justice or righteousness, servants of Christ's mission. That
is who we already are, and what we shall become is hidden with Christ
in the fullness of the mystery of salvation!
Lest the magnificence of our call to magnanimity overwhelm us, we
have these wonderful words of the Psalm to console and confirm us:
"Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth."
And we can confidently make this prayer through the intercession
of the eight French Jesuits (St. John De Brebeuf, St. Isaac Jogues
and their companions) who were martyred here in North America simply
for being partners with God in overcoming sin and death, obedient
slaves of justice, servants of Christ's mission. The MAGIS, the
"more" they were entrusted with, still nourishes our faith
today.
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