Tonight
Final Parables Night: Millstone, Dishonest Steward, Eye of the Needle
Selections from Luke Chapters 12-18
House notes/rules…
1. The Zoom Meeting Logon information is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952
2. The notes/recaps from our meetings are posted on our Catholic Catacombs Light website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/blog, usually within a day.
3. See The Chosen. Knowing Jesus Christ means being able to better relate to God. Check it out: The Chosen at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7.
4. Respectfulness. Of course we will discuss differences between religions and even between Christian denominations, but we agree to use respectful words and tones in doing so. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ (I owe a part of my return to the faith to them).
5. No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct; however, that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn the Bible, explain the Catholic faith – what it means and especially its origins in Scripture and Jesus Christ – and helping people develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ in their daily lives.
6. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can email the group via Meetup, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net.
Bible Study Format
Week 1: Nov 5 – Gospel Readings: Mary and Martha * Jesus and Be-elzebub * The Return of the Demons
Week 2: Nov 16 – Bible Narrative Exegesis from Genesis to Revelations: The Call of Abraham (Gen 12)
Week 3: Nov 23 – Topic of Choice – Jesus’ Great Parables: Luke 16: Parable of the Dishonest Steward, 17:1-2 millstone, Lost Sheep/Coin 15:1-10. (Then Comes Hell)
Week 4: Nov 30 – Open Mic – What are your faith obstacles, either in your personal or work life? Send other questions to Ron.
Bible Topics Survey Results 1. Jesus’ Greatest Parables 2. Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3. Christian Comparisons 4. Great Women in the Bible 5. Why is there suffering in the world 6. Compare World Religions 7. Revelations
Opening Prayer 7:05-7:10 Thanksgiving - Humanity Thank you, Father, for You knew humans would choose themselves and this world over You, and then behave poorly against both! And yet You loved us into existence anyway in the hopes of winning us over still. This life-giving, love-giving story, accompanied by Your unbroken invitation and assistance to draw us to You, demonstrates the spirit of hope and love that permeates humanity’s existence. We thank you for not only granting this opportunity to us anew every day of our lives, but also your willingness to cover our shortcomings, if we only ask. Thank you for this beautiful and handsome group that has gathered to study your Word. Help us to be real with each other and with you today. Give us courage to be honest and to talk with those we trust. We want to experience the hope, freedom, and peace that comes from sharing with you and others. In Jesus' name, Amen. Upcoming Catholic Holy Days First Sunday of Advent November 28, 2021 – is the beginning of the Catholic Liturgical Year. Advent = the coming of the Lord. Both 2000 years ago and the 2nd Coming The Church’s calendar is referred to as the Liturgical Year. (Liturgy à Greek – “public service”)
The Catholic Liturgical Calendar
Upcoming Jewish Holy Days (the Jewish faith was the faith of Jesus and so Jewish history is part of Christianity’s history)
Hanukkah (also Chanukah) – Nov 28 through Dec 6, from the book of Maccabees
Also called the Jewish Festival of Lights, or the Festival of Rededication, Hanukkah is an 8 day commemoration of the Maccabean Revolt in the 2nd century BC against the Selucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the Jews to worship their gods. Against all odds, a small band of Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God. They only had enough ritual oil to light the Menorah for 1 day, but it lasted 8 days, just enough time to resupply ritual oil. That is why this “rededication” is celebrated for 8 days. The word Hanukkah means ‘consecration.’
Q: When was the Maccabean Revolt?
Q: Why isn’t Hanukkah included in the Jewish Bible?
From MyJewishLearning.com: “There is no mention either of the holiday of Hanukkah, nor of the historical events that led to its establishment, in the Hebrew Bible. The most detailed account of the story of Hanukkah is contained in the First and Second Books of Maccabees. However, these books are not included in the Hebrew Bible. The Books of Maccabees are part of what are known as the Apocrypha (Greek for “hidden things”), which was considered part of the biblical canon by the Jews of Alexandria, but not by the Jews in ancient Israel. It is not clear exactly why these books were excluded, though there are several theories — none of them completely satisfying.”
The fact is, Jews have always celebrated Hanukkah, the Jews at the time of Jesus celebrated it, and Jesus and his Apostles celebrated it.
Apocrypha – from Greek, means covered, hidden, unknown Apocalypse – “to uncover, to make known, to reveal” (= Revelations)
10 Minute Journeys through the Mass: “The Source and Summit of Christian Life” – CCC #1324-27 7:10-7:20
The entire Mass is based on Jesus Christ, based in Scripture, and part of history beginning in the New Testament. It will be 2000 years old in 2033.
Order of the Mass
1) The Sign of the Cross – we invite the Holy Trinity into ourselves and into our gathered community.
2) The Lord Be With You, And With Your Spirit – Jesus and the Holy Spirit are invited into, and interacting with us in the Mass.
3) Confiteor – in our preparation for our encounter with God, we confess our sins to Him and to each other.
4) The Gloria
Luke 17:1-2 Millstone
He said to his disciples, “Scandals will inevitably come, but woe to the person through whom they come. It would be better for him that a millstone was hanged around his neck and he was thrown into the sea, than he should scandalize one of these little ones.
Q: Who is Jesus talking about?
Not only young people but also those who are easily influenced or taken advantage of. Jesus’ invective is directed to those who are in a position of influence over others for whatever reason – government, business, religion – because of the great good, or great harm, they can bring to other peoples’ lives.
This is not only true for people with authority or in high positions, but all of us who might lead others into harm or evil.
Luke 16:1-13 Parable of the Dishonest Steward
Verses 1-8
Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that unjust steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
Q: What was this steward’s job and why was he being let go?
It was a Palestinian custom in those days for stewards to act as agents on behalf of their Masters/Landowners. It was also common for stewards to charge a reasonable interest on any debts owed to his master and keep that as their pay.
His wrongdoing was tied to the world “squander.” It turns out it’s the same word that we get “prodigal” – wasteful or extravagant. It appears this steward was not spending his Master’s money wisely.
Q: What was the steward’s dilemma?
“Not strong enough to dig” – a) yes, he was used to a comfortable job but also b) nobody would hire him for manual labor
“Too ashamed to beg” – he is determined to save face.
Q: The traditional interpretation of the steward drastically reducing people’s debts was that the steward was only reducing what people owed for interest. Therefore, only the steward would be out his portion, not his Master. What was the steward’s thinking? How much interest was he charging?
The steward acted this way in order to ingratiate himself with the Master’s debtors because he knew he was being dismissed from his position.
70%-100% interest! He was not only squandering his Master’s money, he was overcharging interest to his Master’s debtors.
Q: Why on earth would the Master commend the dishonest steward for acting prudently?
From a “worldly” standpoint, the steward was certainly being shrewd by trying to make the most of his impending crisis. But if we consider that the Master in the story is God, then we have to dig further than this to understand Jesus’ point.
Q: The ending says:
“For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”
What does Jesus mean?
The “children of the light” are the covenant people of God and Jesus’ disciples. Jesus is saying they (we) should be just as shrewd in trying to build up true wealth in heaven. A fair number of followers were expecting Jesus to overthrow the Romans, and perhaps they were hanging around for that. They were not trying to live, or love, or forgive as Jesus had been teaching. Jesus is saying lip service won’t work.
The remaining verses (9-13) also give some clues …
V9. “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
Q: What is dishonest wealth?
Mammon. Wordly wealth. The entire world all its resources belongs to God since he created the universe – that includes us. When we claim credit or ownership for all our talents, achievements, possessions, money, etc., that is dishonest wealth. Jesus says make friends with this wealth because every kind act done here will be remembered in heaven.
Q: If God owns everything, what does that make us?
Stewards! He has given us everything in creation and the free-will to choose to be like Him. To practice doing good for goodness’ sake; to bring happiness to others. We can’t “take” or “claim” or “demand” love and happiness. We have to give it away first before we can get it back; and they we have to keep on giving it away or we will lose it.
This is what the part of the Our Father means that says, “They kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” WE bring God’s kingdom on earth when we choose to emulate His will. His will is love, forgiveness, kindness, justice.
Q: In other passages, Jesus advises us to build up our wealth in heaven. How do we do this?
Don’t be greedy. Help others. Be kind. Charity. Don’t buy endlessly more than you need. Give your time to someone who needs it. Do acts of kindness without expecting anything in return. Each good act is a deposit into our heavenly account.
V10. “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”
Q: Comments?
This is true for this life. Jesus seems to imply that such trustworthiness here will also affect our hereafter.
V11. “If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?”
Q: Comments?
If we are not trustworthy with mammon (the wealth of this world), we cannot expect to be trusted with any true wealth in the next life.
V12. “If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?”
Q: Comments?
Self-imposed justice? Poetic justice?
V13. “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the
other.You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Q: Comments?
Humans generally think they can serve both. Buzzer/nope.
You can have both, but you can only serve one. Our decisions in this life will determine the story of our afterlife.
Luke 18:24-27. On Riches and Renunciation/Eye of the Needle
Jesus looked at him [now sad] and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?”
And he said, “What is impossible for human beings is possible for God.”
Q: What is the key to understanding this?
With God.
Closing Prayer
Advent Prayer
Father, in the wilderness of the Jordan you sent a messenger to prepare people’s hearts for the coming of your Son.
Help me to hear his words and repent of my sins, so that I may clearly see the way to walk, the truth to speak,
and the life to live for Him, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
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