NEW TESTAMENT: 1 Timothy 2: 1 - 7 (RCL)
1 Timothy 2: 1 - 8 (Roman Catholic)

1Tim 2:1 (NRSV) First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For
there is one God;
there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
6 who gave himself a ransom for all
--this was attested at the right time. 7 For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument;



h/t Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal

At a time when Christians were suspect for not joining in worship of Roman gods, an act expected of all, the author urges them to pray for “everyone”, including civil authorities (“kings ...”, v. 2), so that Christians may live “a quiet and peaceable life”, as good citizens yet godly ones. This, he says, is in accord with God’s plan, for he wishes “everyone” (v. 4) to be saved, through knowledge of Christian “truth”. God desires this for:
• he is the “one God” (v. 5) for all people;
• the “one mediator”, Christ, shared in being human with all of us, and represents us all before the Father, and
• gave his life as the price of freedom (“ransom”, v. 6) for all.
His life and death were “attested” (shown to be an authentic part of the plan) “at the right time”, at the time chosen by God. Paul (“I”, v. 7) was “appointed” by God to announce (“herald”) this to all, genuinely sent out by him (“apostle”) to teach doctrine (“faith”) and the truth about God to everyone.

Verses 1-7: Prayer intentions. The stress on God’s desire to save every human being is also found in 1 Timothy 4:10: “For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe”. See also Titus 2:11; 3:2, 8. [NJBC]
Verses 1-2: The Christian prays even for bad rulers. CAB says that praying for secular authorities will result in respect for Christianity among those outside the faith, and will lessen the risk of persecution. In Romans 13:1, Paul says “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God”. [NOAB] Such prayer is not out of patriotism; there is a hope (possibly implied) that these rulers/authorities might “come to the knowledge of the truth” (v. 4). [NJBC]
Verse 4: This is one of the strongest affirmations of the universality of God’s grace. [NOAB]





GOSPEL: Luke 16: 1 - 13 (all)

Luke 16:1 (NRSV) 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. 2 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.' 3 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. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' 5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, "How much do you owe my master?' 6 He answered, "A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, "Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' 7 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.' 8 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. 9 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.
10 "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. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 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."

Note: Vs. 1-9 are optional in the Roman Catholic lectionary

Luke 16:1-13
As he continues to travel towards Jerusalem, Jesus says more about what is required of a disciple. Many in the crowd were poor, oppressed by the rich, so a story about a “rich man” (vv. 1-8a) would be popular. Jesus speaks in their terms, calling money “dishonest wealth” (v. 9) or filthy lucre. (A “manager”, v. 1, negotiated and signed contracts on his master’s behalf; the master was usually a (hated) absentee landlord.) Mosaic law forbade charging interest on a loan, but there was a way round this: the debtor in v. 6 had probably received 50 jugs of olive oil but the bill was for 100. The manager settles the account by forgiving the usurious interest, probably to his master’s benefit, not his own. Both the “master” (v. 8, the rich man) and the manager are businessmen; the master praises the manager for acting “shrewdly” (the Greek word means pragmatically). Both understand prudent use of financial resources.
From elsewhere in the New Testament and from the Qumran literature, we know that “the children of light” (v. 8) are the spiritually enlightened: business-people are more pragmatic in their sphere than are disciples in affairs of the Kingdom. Then v. 9: Jesus advises accumulation of heavenly capital by providing for the needy. If one does this in one’s own small way, God will see one as trustworthy regarding Kingdom affairs (v. 10) – and if one isn’t, he won’t. Being “faithful” now involves sharing possessions; one who doesn’t now won’t be entrusted with “true riches” (v. 11), i.e. the Kingdom. Financial resources are God’s gift; they belong “to another” (v. 12), i.e. to him. “Your own” is your inheritance as God’s children, i.e. eternal life. So in v. 12 Jesus asks: if you have not managed your finances prudently, will God give you eternal life? Then v. 13: one cannot make a god out of money and serve God. Disciples must serve God exclusively, using material resources for his purposes, sharing with the needy. The alternative is enslavement to materialism.


The unifying theme of this apparently disunified chapter is that of using possessions to benefit others, especially the needy. [NJBC]
This is the Parable of the Dishonest Manager [NOAB] or of the Unjust Steward [Blomberg].
Usually in a parable one can recognize good and evil characters, but here both the master and the manager are at least suspected of being evil, at least to an extent. Perhaps Jesus is saying: one can learn even from the dishonest. [CAB]
Luke offers various example stories instead of parables, to arrest his readers’ attention and to drive home a lesson. To some scholars, this is such a story. But others take it as a parable. [NJBC]
As an example story, it is interpreted in two ways:
• A popular version: Jesus is teaching that his disciples should imitate the actions of the dishonest manager. (This is morally repugnant.)
• A scholarly version: What is to be imitated is the steward’s shrewdness in the use of possessions (even though the possessions are not his own). [NJBC]
As a parable about the kingdom of God, it is interpreted in two ways:
• That there is a point of contact between the actions in the parable and the actions in Jesus’ audiences as he travels to Jerusalem: as the manager was decisive when faced with a crisis, so too should Jesus’ listeners be; they are wavering in their decision to follow him and his kingdom message.
• That the point of contact is one of dissimilarity: the sense of justice normally implied in Kingdom does not accord with the behaviour of the master in v. 8a: how can the master praise such unjust conduct perpetrated on him and not have the rascal punished? Are normal standards of justice being denied in the Kingdom Jesus preaches? Yes, in Jesus’ kingdom of justice and power, masters do not get even. Recall Jesus’ command to love one’s enemies and his teaching about non-retaliation and love of enemies: see 9:51-55 (Samaritans “did not receive him”); 10:29-37 (the Good Samaritan, and bad robbers, priest and Levite); 17:11-19 (the nine lepers); 22:47-55 (Judas Iscariot); 23:34 (on the Cross). [NJBC]