The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today assert the necessity for Christians to exercise their gift of cleverness as a Way to bring justice and compassion to our environment.
In the Letter to the Romans, Paul asserts his role as Apostle to the Gentiles.
* [15:14–33] Paul sees himself as apostle and benefactor in the priestly service of the gospel and so sketches plans for a mission in Spain, supported by those in Rome.
* [15:14] Full of goodness: the opposite of what humanity was filled with according to Rom 1:29–30.
* [15:19] Illyricum: Roman province northwest of Greece on the eastern shore of the Adriatic.
* [15:20] I aspire: Paul uses terminology customarily applied to philanthropists. Unlike some philanthropists of his time, Paul does not engage in cheap competition for public acclaim. This explanation of his missionary policy is to assure the Christians in Rome that he is also not planning to remain in that city and build on other people’s foundations (cf. 2 Cor 10:12–18). However, he does solicit their help in sending him on his way to Spain, which was considered the limit of the western world. Thus Paul’s addressees realize that evangelization may be understood in the broader sense of mission or, as in Rom 1:15, of instruction within the Christian community that derives from the gospel.
* [15:21] The citation from Is 52:15 concerns the Servant of the Lord. According to Isaiah, the Servant is first of all Israel, which was to bring the knowledge of Yahweh to the nations. In Rom 9–11 Paul showed how Israel failed in this mission. Therefore, he himself undertakes almost singlehandedly Israel’s responsibility as the Servant and moves as quickly as possible with the gospel through the Roman empire. (Romans, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 98 extolls God for Israel’s victory.
* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Luke presents the Parable of the Dishonest Steward.
* [16:1–8a] The parable of the dishonest steward has to be understood in the light of the Palestinian custom of agents acting on behalf of their masters and the usurious practices common to such agents. The dishonesty of the steward consisted in the squandering of his master’s property (Lk 16:1) and not in any subsequent graft. The master commends the dishonest steward who has forgone his own usurious commission on the business transaction by having the debtors write new notes that reflected only the real amount owed the master (i.e., minus the steward’s profit). The dishonest steward acts in this way in order to ingratiate himself with the debtors because he knows he is being dismissed from his position (Lk 16:3). The parable, then, teaches the prudent use of one’s material goods in light of an imminent crisis.
* [16:6] One hundred measures: literally, “one hundred baths.” A bath is a Hebrew unit of liquid measurement equivalent to eight or nine gallons.
* [16:7] One hundred kors: a kor is a Hebrew unit of dry measure for grain or wheat equivalent to ten or twelve bushels. (Luke, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB, n.d.)
Sue Calef suggests that perhaps by reflection on our own identities: are we, simply children of this world, accepting and acting in accord with the “shrewd” ways of the world and these times, the ways and means of mere self-interest?
Perhaps by reflection on our own economic realities: what is my/our relation to unjust wealth? What is my relationship to money? How much wealth accumulation is enough? Every budget is a moral document, and so, what does my personal budget indicate about my values and priorities? What do our state and federal budgets reveal about our values our, priorities, and whose needs count for us? How am I/we complicit, albeit often inadvertently, in the “ways of the world” that drive poverty, exclusion, hard-heartedness, hatred, violence to others and to our earth-home?
Perhaps by reflection on the recurring Spirit-question in Luke’s Gospel: What shall I do? What shall we do together? (Calef, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus recommends the foresight, prudence, and ingenuity of the steward,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. On top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job. Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, 'Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light.' They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future. In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master's decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?" (excerpt from 359A.10.) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Romans 15:14-21 comments on the life of Peter Wu Guosheng who is credited with bringing more than six hundred people to the Lord. But his efforts also brought the attention of the authorities, who considered the Catholic faith a threat.
Can you let the Spirit do something similar in you? Can you surrender to him the goodness and the desire to serve God that are already in your heart—even if it feels like it’s just a tiny flame? Every day invite him in. Let him gradually turn you into the “ordinary saint” God has called you to be!
“Come, Holy Spirit, and fill me with your power and your joy!” (Meditation on Romans 15:14-21, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the actions of Paul to evangelize the Romans in anticipation of the end times and defends the boldness in sending a letter to a community that he did not visit or preach to in his ministry. Paul evangelized where the Gospel had not been preached previously by other evangelists because He believes the end is at hand and he would go where the Gospel has not been heard. Luke’s Gospel presents an odd parable of a stewart who writes of some of the debt owed his master. Cleverness was an important virtue in occupied Israel. Friar Jude notes people sometimes lack cleverness in spiritual matters of prayer, peace, and making Christ our centre.
Fr. Mike Schmitz highlights one of the lessons we've seen time and time again—that God continues to fight for each of us, despite the brokenness and messiness of our lives. He also points out how the reading from Wisdom foreshadows the coming of Jesus. The readings are 2 Maccabees 14, Wisdom 17-18, and Proverbs 25:18-20.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Elias Chacour is a Palestinian Arab-Israeli and a former archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic church in Palestine. At one point in his ministry, Chacour went against the orders of local authorities to build a secondary school to educate the youth in his community in Galilee.
When I understand Jesus’ words in Aramaic, I translate like this:
Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you who are hungry and thirsty for justice, for you shall be satisfied.
Get up, go ahead, do something, move, you peacemakers, for you shall be called children of God.
To me this reflects Jesus’ words and teachings much more accurately. I can hear him saying, “Get your hands dirty to build a human society for human beings; otherwise, others will torture and murder the poor, the voiceless, and the powerless.” Christianity is not passive but active, energetic, alive, going beyond despair….
“Get up, go ahead, do something, move,” Jesus said to his disciples.
Ultimately, the secondary school was completed and allowed to stand, despite the lack of official permits for water and electricity. (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the guidance of the Spirit as we act to use the gifts of our intelligence and cleverness to support our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet, and leader.
References
Calef, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministrues. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-november-7-2025
Luke, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/16?1
Meditation on Romans 15:14-21. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/11/07/1424603/
Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/set-yourself-on-the-right-way/
Romans, CHAPTER 15 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/15?14
Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Necessity of Prudent Foresight. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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