Today's gospel, Sun 21 Sept. On choosing to act and not delay

 




The Worship of Mammon
Evelyn De Morgan, 1909
Public domain, via Wikimedia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1147026


Today's gospel    Luke 16: 1-13

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. 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.’ 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.I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 

So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 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.’ 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. 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.  

“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. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?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.”


Understanding the parable:

 Thought for the day - from Hearers of the Word, www.tarsus.ie


"The banking crisis is only one example of a wider “honesty deficit” in public life. Even people working for charities are sometimes found, unfortunately, to be lacking in integrity. As a result, the story of dishonest management will not lack contemporary echoes. It also means that the shock of story—the manager continues to fix the books for his own benefit—is just as much a shock today as it would have been in first-century Palestine. If that were not enough, the ironic teaching drawn in v. 9 ["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."] borders on the sarcastic, not to say caustic. No missing the meaning, in any case! But what is the meaning? It can’t be simply copy that distressing example of the manager. To act, not to delay, seems to be at the centre.


Prayer

I truly believe and I know, God of our hearts, that you love and desire all that I am. May your great love penetrate even the darkest parts of my life that I may know true conversion of heart and love you with my whole self."


                                                            (Hearers of the Word, www.tarsus.ie)


Sacred Space

You can find a helpful prayer guide and a short reflection here:

https://sacredspace.com/daily-prayer/2025-09-21/


Christian Art

You can find a helpful reflection here:

https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-16-10-13-2025/



'Save the date'
Notices

Everyone is invited and welcome. 

  • Turlough Harvest Thanksgiving Service, Sat 20 Sept, 7pm: Guest speaker Mrs Valerie Raitt, TLK Diocesan Spiritual Tourism and Pilgrimages Co-ordinator. Followed by tea and treats. Music: Michele Gill, organist. 
  • Bishop Michael will preside at the Eucharist in Turlough Parish Church,.on Sat 27 Sept, 7pm. 
  • Holy Baptism: Sunday 21 Sept, 10am in Christ Church Castlebar.
  • Holy Baptism: Sat 4 October, 7pm in Turlough Parish Church. 
  • Inishbiggle Harvest Thanksgiving, Sat 25 October. Details to follow.  

A Special Weekend of Music, 24-26 October. The Choir of St Philip's and Sandford, Dublin, led by Mr David O'Shea, Director, will be with us in Westport for a series of musical events including Compline on Friday evening at 7pm and a fundraising concert for Holy Trinity Westport on Saturday at 8pm in St Mary's Church, and contribution to worship on Sunday morning (12 noon). More details to follow.



A short message from Archbishop John McDowell relating to immigration:





Pastoral care and enquiries:  

Revd Suzanne Cousins
Rector, Aughaval Parishes, United Dioceses of Tuam, Limerick & Killaloe

Tel. 083 800 3233  
Email aughaval@tuam.anglican.org

Aughaval Parishes' Website  aughaval.tlk.ie

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AughavalParishes

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