Responsibility

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 17 (16):6, 8 To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings protect me.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Ephesians 3:2-12; Psalm: Isaiah 12; Luke 12:39-48

Jesus said, Understand 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. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Peter asked, Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone? The Lord answered, Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12:39-48)

Responsibility I remember years ago a person saying that he wished that he hadn’t been born into a Catholic family, because non-Catholics had it easier. They did not have the obligations that Catholics have. The person who said this did not appreciate that the Faith is a gift, and that a great gift necessarily endows responsibilities. However, his slightly ludicrous wish reminds us of a fundamental fact of life. It is that we are all inescapably and radically endowed with gifts that bring with them responsibilities. We did not choose to enter the world — for only one Person did this, and he was divine. We find ourselves in existence, as living, breathing human beings with the power and the requirement to choose our course. We cannot renounce this gift as if it were simply chosen by us, and if we were forcibly to extricate ourselves from life and its responsibility (by, say, putting an end to our life), all would be tragic for us. We cannot avoid the possibilities, and more fundamentally, the responsibilities flowing from our given situation. Martin Heidegger made the expression Dasein famous — we are being in time. We exist in time, and this inevitably involves the responsibility for what we make of our own being. Years back I knew a priest who, before he died in Spain, said that he was grateful to God for the gift of life. He had used his life well and fully, and it had been the source of blessings for very many others. As each person finds himself with his gifts of life, circumstances and vocation, he must take responsibility for the use he makes of these gifts. If he does not, his life will be a tragedy, as it will if he positively chooses the path of evil. He must take cognizance of the life and gifts with which he has been endowed, and resolve to pursue the path of good. He is placed in the stream of time, and when that time is cut short, the quality of his being will be his own unavoidable responsibility, the fruit of his own choices. In time, and due to his choices — for he cannot but choose — he will be either good or bad. So he must take himself in hand and use his freedom to become all that he should be. It is imperative that he become and do good. Let us remember the words uttered by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, that it would have been better had his betrayer never been born (Mark 14: 21).

In our Gospel today, our Lord refers to the seriousness of our responsibilities. He begins by giving a brief illustration: the householder cares for his house, and if he knows the hour the burglar will come, he will prevent the break-in. So too we must constantly stand ready at our responsibilities, for we do not know the hour of the Son of Man’s arrival. Now, this illustration came at the end of a long passage of teaching (Luke 12: 22-40) that was directed to his disciples (12:22). He had earlier been speaking to a person in the crowd (Luke 12:13-21) warning against greed. He then turned to his disciples to speak of dependence on God, and constant readiness for the arrival of the Master. At this, Luke reports, Simon Peter interrupted. Is this point meant “for us or for all?” That is to say, was it meant for all his disciples, or even for all the world, or was it meant for his closest companions, the Apostles who would be masters of the household that just featured in the parable? At this, our Lord speaks directly of the “faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household.” So it would seem that our Lord here is speaking directly to the Apostles, to those who would have a special responsibility for the “menservants and the maids.” Our Lord says that their privilege is an awesome responsibility for which they will be held to account. This responsibility is unavoidable. They especially, more than the rest, must watch and act in such a way as to be ready for the master when he returns. If they are faithful, they will be placed in charge of all the master’s possessions. But if they are not, they will be cut off and sent to the place of the unbelievers. There are different levels of awareness and responsibility, but all the master’s servants will be held to account. “That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:39-48).

There is no avoiding the Judgment of God. We must strive for holiness of life. Ultimately, and in the final analysis, we shall be either good or bad, and we each of us will be responsible for our end. Further, that end will be eternal. We shall be eternally good, or eternally bad. We shall be eternally happy beyond description, or eternally miserable beyond description. It will all depend on how I use my freedom and gifts now, this very day, tomorrow and the next day. I am a being in time, and my time could suddenly be cut short. Then, as a human being, how shall I stand? Ah Lord! Now I begin!

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Luke 12:39-48)

The Last Things Consider our Lord's parables in Luke 12:39-48. It is clear from their whole drift that life must be regarded as a stewardship: "What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?" Each of us has been given certain responsibilities in the household of God and at the end of the day we shall be judged on our stewardship. For all of us a judgment is looming on how well we have done the work assigned to us. Cardinal Newman once wrote that the first principle of religion is the thought of a judgment. Life is a test, a trial, and there is no avoiding the final hour of reckoning. It ought be the backdrop of all we do, with the realization that this hour of reckoning can come at any moment, for the simple reason that all created visible reality is profoundly transient. It hangs on a thread, the thread of God's creative action.

Therefore, "You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." A great deal has been given us on trust, so "a great deal will be demanded". Let us then always remember the last things: death and judgment, and then it will be either heaven or hell, and forever.

(E.J.Tyler)

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