What will the Master do when He comes back to His household?

Mass Readings and Commentary on Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year C                    11 August 2013
St. Clare, Virgin (1194-1253)

First Reading from the Book of Wisdom 18:6-9.

The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes.
For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned.
For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution, That your holy ones should share alike the same good things and dangers, having previously sung the praises of the fathers.

Ps 33(32):1.12.18-19.20-22.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
Praise from the upright is fitting.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
Upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
And preserve them in spite of famine.

Our soul waits for the LORD,
Who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
In his holy name we trust.

May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
Who have put our hope in you.

Heb. 11:1-2.8-19.

Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was to go.
By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise;
for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God.
By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age--and Sarah herself was sterile--for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy.
So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.
All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth,
for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland.
If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son,
of whom it was said, "Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name."
He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

Lk 12:32-48.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master's return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."
Then Peter said, "Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?"
And the Lord replied, "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master's will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master's will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Commentary of the day :

Jack decided to go skiing with his buddy, Bob. They loaded up Jack's minivan and headed north. After driving for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard. They pulled into a nearby farm and asked the very attractive woman who answered the door if they could spend the night.
 "I realize it's terrible weather out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but I'm recently widowed," she explained. "I'm afraid the neighbours will talk if I let you stay in my house."
 "Don't worry," Jack said. "We'll be happy to sleep in the barn. And if the weather breaks, we'll be gone at first light." The lady agreed, and the two men found their way to the barn and settled in for the night. Come morning, the weather had cleared, and they got on their way They enjoyed a great weekend of skiing.
 About nine months later, Jack got an unexpected letter from an attorney. It took him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally determined that it was from the attorney of that attractive widow he had met on the ski weekend.
 He dropped in on his friend Bob and asked, "Bob, do you remember that good-looking widow from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up North?"
 "Yes, I do."
 "Did you happen to get up in the middle of the night, go up to the house and pay her a visit?"
"Yes," Bob said, a little embarrassed about being found out. "I have to admit that I did."
 "And did you happen to use my name instead of telling her your name?"
 Bob's face turned red and he said, "Yeah, sorry, buddy. I'm afraid I did. Why do you ask?"
 "She just died and left me everything."

As you will read below in St Fulgentius’ comments, the Gospel message is directed straight at those who exercise authority in the Catholic Church and hold the reins for God. They don’t own the Church, it is entrusted to them. The Master is coming back and will call them to account over what they have allowed His Church to become.

Much has been entrusted to priests and bishops therefore much more is expected of them than of normal citizens. That’s why people expect priests to be perfect, not gossips or big drinkers or worldly (in terms of having the latest gadgets and expensive clothes). For all these expectations I was a sad disappointment. In retrospect (as I have admitted) I was probably never called by God to exercise the Catholic priesthood, but I did see it as a means to an end which I felt was divinely inspired. If I was successful in pointing out the unfaithful stewards by highlighting my own unworthiness, then I have achieved my objective. But until the Church hierarchy accepts its responsibility for allowing those unfaithful servants to exercise such authority and opportunity to abuse the vulnerable sheep, then they are headed for a nasty beating from the Master.

Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (467-532), Bishop in North Africa
Homily 1, on the Lord's servants ; CCL 91A, 889 (trans. breviary Common of pastors)

"Stewards of the mysteries of God"

Wishing to emphasize the special office of the servants whom he has placed in charge of his people, the Lord says, 'Who, do you think, is the faithful and wise steward whom the Lord sets over his household, to give to them their measure of wheat at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” Who is that master, brethren? Without a doubt it is Christ, who says to his disciples: “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right for so I am” (Jn 13,13). What, too, is the master's household? Doubtless it is the one which the Lord himself ransomed... This sacred household is the holy, Catholic Church, which is spread through the whole earth with abundant fertility and glories in the fact that she has been redeemed by the precious blood of her Master. As he himself says: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10,45). He is, too, the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep” (Jn 10,11)...As to who the steward is who ought to be faithful as well as wise, the Apostle Paul shows us, when, speaking of himself and his companions, he says: “This is how one should regard us, as the servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy” (1Cor 4,1-2). Now, lest anyone of us should think that it is only the apostles who have been made stewards..., the blessed Apostle Paul shows us that the bishops also are stewards, when he says: “For a bishop, as God's steward, must be blameless” (Tt 1,7)...We, therefore, who are the servants of the master of the household, we are the stewards of the Lord, we have received the measure of wheat to disburse to you.