Today’s Gospel ends with a warning, but it doesn’t begin with one. Our Lord is inviting us today to be magnanimous in our service, not miserly and calculating. Our Lord encourages us today by reminding us that the Kingdom is ours: he describes the moment when the master actually waits on the servants because they’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty and he is so pleased with them. Our Lord wants to give us all we need and more. The key is to be a faithful and prudent servant. We have to remember that we’re not the owner; we’re stewards entrusted with something that doesn’t belong to us, and we have to account for our stewardship.
We can never forget that we’re servants and stewards. We don’t control it all: flat tires, food poisoning, bad weather remind us that not everything is under our sway. We don’t own it all: even when we have the latest iPod there’s always a better model on the way, a newer car, but also a new and unpaid bill. Our Lord teaches us today that true freedom comes from letting go. The Kingdom is true freedom, if we seek it first, everything else will work out, because our treasure, the treasure for ourselves and those we love, is in Heaven.
Let’s resolve to be faithful and happy servants today, because Our Lord’s servants become his friends, and he promises those friends a joy that no one will take from them. Ask Our Lord today to help you see where your heart lies so that you can keep it fixed on the treasure that never fades.
Readings: Wisdom 18:6–9; Psalm 33:1, 12, 18–19, 20–22; Hebrews 11:1–2, 8–19; Luke 12:32–48. See also 29th Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday and Wednesday.