What Christ the King Expects of His Stewards
Gospel Reflection for August 10, 2025 - Luke 12:32-48
Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom.
Sell what you possess and give alms. Make to yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in heaven which faileth not: where no thief approacheth, nor moth corrupteth.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands.
And you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately.
Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them.
And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
But this know ye, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open.
Be you then also ready: for at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come.
And Peter said to him: Lord, dost thou speak this parable to us, or likewise to all?
And the Lord said: Who (thinkest thou) is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come, he shall find so doing.
Verily I say to you, he will set him over all that he possesseth.
But if that servant shall say in his heart: My lord is long a coming; and shall begin to strike the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk:
The lord of that servant will come in the day that he hopeth not, and at the hour that he knoweth not, and shall separate him, and shall appoint him his portion with unbelievers.
And that servant who knew the will of his lord, and prepared not himself, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
But he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more. (Luke 12:32-48 DRA)
The Gospel reading for today follows from last Sunday’s (skipping over Christ’s words about the lilies of the field), focusing on the nature of true wealth as treasure in Heaven, rather than worldly riches. The other readings, as well as Christ’s initial words in this passage, apply to Christians in general, exhorting all of us to live by faith, not by sight, to store up treasure in Heaven through our meritorious works of charity in faith and hope while forsaking all worldliness.
Now, Our Lord applies this teaching in a special way to the apostles and, through them, to all the bishops (and by participation the priests and deacons) who are their successors, addressing His parables to “you yourselves” and, in answer to St. Peter’s question, specifying the “steward, whom his lord setteth over his family” as the primary recipient of His lesson. So what is our High Priest telling those priests who participate in His eternal priesthood through their ordained ministry and their power to act in persona Christi?
Christ offers two lessons in particular to priests in this reading: one positive and one negative.
Positively, He teaches that the vocation of clergy is twofold: generically, the successors of the apostles are stewards “whom [their] lord setteth over his family”, and specifically for the purpose “to give them their measure of wheat in due season”. The first pertains to the role of priests as fathers and shepherds of the People of God, performing and overseeing the administration of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy to all those in their care, including even non-Catholics who live within the borders of their parishes and dioceses. This includes teaching the Faith, protecting from spiritual dangers and correcting sins, both through the Sacrament of Penance and exhortations to virtue through preaching.
Sadly, today many clergy at all levels are afraid to give correction, whether privately or publicly, even toward grave public sins like the endorsement of abortion, homosexuality, IVF, etc. by Catholic politicians (unless the issue in question is more politically correct). But the obligation to correct one another, in a prudent and appropriate way, is especially applicable to priests, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches:
Even as regards that fraternal correction which is common to all, prelates have a grave responsibility, as Augustine says (De Civ. Dei i, 9): "for just as a man ought to bestow temporal favors on those especially of whom he has temporal care, so too ought he to confer spiritual favors, such as correction, teaching and the like, on those who are entrusted to his spiritual care."
The second positive aspect of the vocation of priests beautifully recalls the central mission of priests to deliver the Word of God to the faithful in the Eucharist and in the liturgical proclamation of Scripture:
Thus the faithful and wise servant prudently giving out in due season the servants’ food, that is, their spiritual meat, will be blessed according to the Saviour’s word, in that he will obtain still greater things, and will be thought worthy of the rewards which are due to friends. (Cyril of Alexandria, Catena Aurea)
Negatively, the betrayal of the priests’ vocation which Our Lord describes, when they take their length of days and the delay of the Second Coming for granted and live in luxury, negligence and permissiveness, seeming to blend into the world rather than being set apart from it by the holiness of their ordination, is shown through the example of the wicked servant. His actions constitute an even graver abuse than the malpractice of Christian virtue by the laity, since priests and bishops in a special way represent Christ to the Church and the world and so are more susceptible to causing scandal:
In this servant is declared the condemnation of all evil rulers, who, forsaking the fear of the Lord, not only give themselves up to pleasures, but also provoke with injuries those who are put under them. Although these words may be also understood figuratively, meaning to corrupt the hearts of the weak by an evil example; and to eat, drink, and be drunken, to be absorbed in the vices and allurements of the world, which overthrow the mind of man. But concerning his punishment it is added, The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, that is, the day of his judgment or death, and will cut him in sunder. (Bede, Catena Aurea)
Between the clerical sex abuse scandal, the prevalence of schismatic and heretical teachings by popes, bishops and priests and the general laxity, irreverence and ambiguity which are rife in the Church today, the clergy have lost much of their credibility. This is one of the greatest barriers to conversion and a common cause of Catholics joining a false church or ceasing to practice religion altogether.
Christ will not simply pass over this grave injustice when He returns. While the good servant, the clergy who faithfully and heroically lives out his vocation, will be rewarded alongside the apostles, the wicked servant will not be exempted from punishment due to his clerical status but Christ will “appoint him his portion with unbelievers.” This should be a wake-up call to all the clergy of the Church today.
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