Gospel
Luke 16:1-13 (NRSV)
1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There
was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to
him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned
him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give
me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my
manager any longer.' 3 Then the manager said to himself, 'What
will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from
me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4
I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager,
people may welcome me into their homes.' 5 So, summoning his
master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do
you owe my master?' 6 He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.'
He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it
fifty.' 7 Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He
replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take
your bill and make it eighty.' 8 And his master commended the
dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children
of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends
for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is
gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
10 "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. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the
dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12
And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two
masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other,
or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve
God and wealth."
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.