“I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,* so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16:9.)
Saint Ephrem the Syrian offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel proclamation:
“He told another parable of the steward, who was accused in the presence of his master. The shrewdness of this unjust steward was praised in the presence of his master. He unjustly wasted the initial treasures and then unjustly and cunningly cancelled the later debts. He was praised because he acquired what was to be his by what was not his, namely, his friends and supporters. Through what was not his, Adam got something that was not his, namely, thorns and pains. O children of Adam, buy for yourselves those things that do not pass away, by means of those temporary things that are not yours!” (Commentary on Taitian’s Diatessaron, 14.)
Collect
O God, who never allow the gates of hell
to prevail against Your Church,
firmly founded on the apostolic rock,
grant Her, we pray,
that through the intercession of Pope Saint Leo,
She may stand firm in Your truth
and know the protection of lasting peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
to prevail against Your Church,
firmly founded on the apostolic rock,
grant Her, we pray,
that through the intercession of Pope Saint Leo,
She may stand firm in Your truth
and know the protection of lasting peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
