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Theme:
What We Possess Must Serve Love
Luke
Welcome
Presider:
Welcome, beloved community.
Today Jesus gives us one of his strangest and most provocative parables. He tells us about a manager who suddenly realizes that everything he thought would secure his future is slipping away. Faced with that reality, he begins reducing the debts of others.
Jesus does not praise dishonesty. He draws our attention to the manager’s urgency, imagination, and willingness to change course.
Today the Gospel asks us: What possesses our hearts? How are we using what has been entrusted to us? Are our money, possessions, power, institutions, and gifts serving Divine Love and the common good?
At this table there are no outsiders. There are no first-class or second-class members of the Body of Christ. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever your story, you are welcome here.
All:
We gather in the name of God, Source of all Being,
Jesus our brother and wisdom teacher,
and Sophia Spirit, breathing love and courage within us. Amen.
Transformation Rite
Presider:
Jesus reminds us that we cannot serve both Divine Love and the relentless pursuit of wealth. Let us bring into the healing light of Love those places where fear, greed, indifference, or attachment have narrowed our hearts.
All:
For the times we have confused having more with being more,
we open ourselves to transformation.
For the times we have failed to see the needs of people around us,
we open ourselves to transformation.
For the times our comfort has depended upon the hardship of others,
we open ourselves to transformation.
For the times we have been afraid to share our resources, gifts, or power,
we open ourselves to transformation.
Presider:
Divine Love never stops calling us into greater freedom.
All:
We forgive ourselves.
We forgive one another.
We receive the healing embrace of God,
and we choose again the way of compassion, justice, and love. Amen.
Gloria
All:
Glory to God in the highest
and peace to all people on earth.
We praise you, Holy Mystery,
for the beauty of creation,
for the courage of prophets,
for the compassion of Jesus,
and for Sophia Spirit alive within us.
You call us to create a world
where no one goes hungry,
no one is discarded,
and every person is cherished.
Glory to you, God of justice and tenderness,
now and forever. Amen.
Opening Prayer
All:
Holy Mystery,
everything we have is gift.
The earth beneath our feet,
the food on our tables,
the love of family and friends,
our abilities, our resources,
our opportunities and our very lives
have been entrusted to our care.
Free us from the illusion
that security comes from possessions.
Give us the imagination
to use what we have
to lift burdens, heal wounds,
welcome strangers, challenge injustice,
and create communities
where everyone has enough.
May our lives proclaim
that love is our greatest treasure.
Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading
A reading may be chosen that emphasizes justice, economic fairness, care for the poor, or faithful stewardship.
Reader:
These are inspired words of our sacred tradition.
All:
May they awaken within us the Holy One.
Responsorial Prayer
Response:
Create in us generous hearts, O God.
Reader:
When fear tells us to hold tightly to what we have,
All:
Create in us generous hearts, O God.
Reader:
When others carry debts and burdens too heavy to bear,
All:
Create in us generous hearts, O God.
Reader:
When wealth and power become more important than human dignity,
All:
Create in us generous hearts, O God.
Reader:
When we wonder whether our small actions can make a difference,
All:
Create in us generous hearts, O God.
Reader:
When Divine Love invites us to build a larger table,
All:
Create in us generous hearts, O God.
Gospel Acclamation
All:
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
Alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 16:1–13
Presider/Reader:
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“There was once a wealthy landowner who had a manager overseeing his property. Word reached the owner that the manager was mishandling what had been entrusted to him.
So the owner called him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your stewardship, because you can no longer continue as my manager.’
The manager thought to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I am losing my position. I am not strong enough for hard labor, and I am ashamed to beg.
‘I know what I will do so that, when I am removed from my position, people will welcome me into their homes.’
He called in each person who owed something to his employer.
To the first he asked, ‘How much do you owe?’
The person replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
The manager said, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’
Then he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’
The reply came, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’
The manager said, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’
And surprisingly, the owner praised the manager for acting shrewdly.
Jesus said, ‘The people of this world often show great ingenuity in securing their future. If only the children of light showed equal imagination in creating a world of compassion and justice.
‘Use the resources entrusted to you to build relationships, lift burdens, and serve the common good.
‘Whoever is faithful in small things will also be faithful in greater things.
‘And if you cannot be trusted with material wealth, how can you be entrusted with the riches that truly matter?
‘No one can serve two masters. Sooner or later, one will claim your heart.
‘You cannot serve both God and mammon.’”
These are the inspired words of Luke.
All:
Praise to you, Jesus the Christ.
Shared Homily / Community Reflection
Presider:
This is a difficult Gospel because the manager is hardly a model of virtue.
Jesus is not telling us to imitate his dishonesty. He is drawing our attention to something else: when the manager realizes that his old way of life is ending, he becomes extraordinarily creative.
And what does he do with that creativity?
He lightens other people’s burdens.
Debts are reduced.
People who owed one hundred measures of oil suddenly owe fifty. A person owing one hundred measures of wheat now owes eighty.
Whatever the manager’s motives may have been, people who were carrying heavy burdens walk away carrying less.
Perhaps Jesus is asking us:
Why are the forces of greed so creative while the children of light are sometimes so timid?
What might happen if we brought that same imagination and urgency to poverty, hunger, homelessness, racism, ecological destruction, gender inequality, and every system that diminishes human dignity?
The Gospel ends with words that go straight to the heart:
“You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Jesus does not say that money itself is evil.
He asks something much deeper:
Who is serving whom?
Do we use our money and possessions, or do they control us?
Do our institutions serve people, or do people end up serving institutions?
Do our religious structures serve the Gospel, or can preserving the structure sometimes become more important than living the Gospel?
Jesus reminds us that everything entrusted to us—money, education, talents, authority, property, opportunities—is meant to serve life.
We are stewards, not owners.
Perhaps the Gospel can be summed up in one sentence:
What we possess must serve love.
Dialogue Homily Questions
What word or phrase in today’s Gospel speaks to you?
What do you think Jesus means when he says we cannot serve both God and mammon?
Where do you see people using their resources creatively to relieve the burdens of others?
What is one gift or resource you possess that Divine Love may be inviting you to share more freely?
Where might our Church be invited to put people before possessions, rules, power, or institutional security?
Community members are invited to share.
Statement of Faith
All:
We believe in the Holy One,
the Source of all that exists,
whose abundance is meant for all creation.
We believe in Jesus,
our brother and wisdom teacher,
who proclaimed good news to the poor,
freedom to the oppressed,
healing to the brokenhearted,
and a place at the table for everyone.
We believe in Sophia Spirit,
moving within us and among us,
calling forth courage, creativity,
generosity, and holy imagination.
We believe that Earth is sacred
and that its gifts belong to the whole community of life.
We believe that every person
is created in the divine image
and deserves dignity, justice, food, shelter, healthcare, love, and belonging.
We believe that Church is not primarily a building or institution,
but a community of equals
called to live the Gospel.
We believe in an open table
where all are welcome.
We believe that love is stronger than fear,
justice stronger than oppression,
and hope stronger than despair.
We believe that we are called
to use everything entrusted to us
in the service of Divine Love.
Amen.
Prayers of the Community
Response:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
For all who struggle to feed their families, pay their bills, find affordable housing, or receive adequate healthcare, may economic systems place human dignity before profit.
All:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
For people crushed by unjust debt, low wages, exploitation, or economic inequality, may burdens be lifted and justice restored.
All:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
For leaders of nations, businesses, churches, and institutions, may they remember that authority and wealth are trusts given for the common good.
All:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
For women and all people whose gifts and vocations have been restricted by unjust religious structures, may communities of faith have the courage to recognize the gifts of the Spirit in everyone.
All:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
For our Earth, exploited for profit and treated as property rather than sacred gift, may we embrace ecological conversion and protect our common home.
All:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
For those whose needs we carry in our hearts today…
Community members offer intentions.
All:
God of abundance, make us faithful stewards of love.
Presider:
Holy Mystery, receive these prayers and transform us into the answers to one another’s prayers.
All:
Amen.
Liturgy of Eucharist
Preparation of the Gifts
Bread and wine are brought to the table.
Presider:
Blessed are you, God of abundance. Through your goodness we have this bread, fruit of Earth and work of human hands.
All:
May this bread become for us the Bread of Life.
Presider:
Blessed are you, God of celebration. Through your goodness we have this wine, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
All:
May this cup become for us the Cup of Joy.
Presider:
Let us bring to this table not only bread and wine but our entire lives—our resources, our gifts, our work, our hopes, our struggles, and our commitment to create a more just world.
All:
May everything we have
and everything we are
become a blessing for others.
Eucharistic Prayer
Presider:
The Holy One is within you.
All:
And also within you.
Presider:
Lift up your hearts.
All:
We lift them up in love.
Presider:
Let us give thanks to the Holy One.
All:
It is right to give thanks and praise.
Presider:
Loving God, Source of every good gift,
we give you thanks.
You formed a universe overflowing with abundance.
You gave us fertile soil, flowing waters, trees heavy with fruit, creatures beyond counting, and human hearts capable of generosity.
You did not create scarcity.
You created enough.
Again and again, your prophets reminded us that the blessings of Earth are not intended for a privileged few but for everyone.
When your people forgot this truth, you raised up voices calling them back to justice.
In the fullness of time, Jesus came among us.
He proclaimed good news to the poor.
He fed hungry crowds.
He touched those who were excluded.
He challenged those who accumulated wealth while others suffered.
He taught us that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also.
And so, with all who hunger and thirst for justice, with saints and prophets, ancestors and dreamers, we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy
All:
Holy, Holy, Holy One,
God of power and love,
heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed are all who come
in the name of love.
Hosanna in the highest.
Invocation of the Spirit
All extend hands in blessing.
Presider:
Sophia Spirit, come upon these gifts of bread and wine and upon us gathered here.
All:
May we become the Body of Christ,
blessed, broken open, and shared
for the healing of the world.
Words of Institution
Presider:
On the night before he faced death, Jesus gathered at table with his friends.
He took bread into his hands, gave thanks, broke it, and shared it with everyone, saying:
“Take this, all of you, and eat.
This is my body, given for you.
Whenever you do this, remember me.”
All pause.
After supper Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and shared it with them, saying:
“Take this, all of you, and drink.
This is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of a new and everlasting covenant.
It will be poured out for you and for all
for the healing and liberation of the world.
Whenever you drink of this cup,
remember me.”
All pause.
Presider:
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.
All:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ lives within us and among us.
Christ will come again in glory
through every act of justice, compassion, and love.
Eucharistic Prayer Continues
Presider:
Loving God, we remember Jesus,
whose life showed us what faithful stewardship looks like.
He poured himself out for others.
He placed compassion before convention,
people before rules,
healing before respectability,
and love before fear.
May this Eucharist transform us.
Where we cling tightly, teach us to open our hands.
Where we fear scarcity, teach us to trust abundance.
Where people carry impossible burdens, make us partners in lifting them.
Where institutions protect wealth or power at the expense of people, give us courage to speak truth.
Where anyone is excluded from the table, make us builders of a larger table.
We remember all who have gone before us and now live in the fullness of Divine Love.
We remember those who dreamed of a more just Church and world.
We remember those whose names are known and those forgotten by history.
May we continue their unfinished work.
All:
Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of Sophia Spirit,
all glory and honor are yours,
Holy Mystery, forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer of Jesus
Presider:
Let us pray together in the spirit of Jesus, using whatever words speak most deeply to our hearts.
All:
Our Father and Mother,
who are everywhere and within us,
holy is your name.
May your kin-dom come.
May your will for justice and love be done
on Earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the bread we need
and help us ensure that everyone has enough.
Forgive us our failures to love
as we forgive ourselves and one another.
Free us from fear, greed, and indifference,
and deliver us from everything that separates us from love.
For yours is the kin-dom,
the power, and the glory,
now and forever. Amen.
Sign of Peace
Presider:
Jesus teaches us that our relationships are worth more than our possessions.
Let us share a sign of peace with one another.
All:
May the peace of Christ be with everyone.
Breaking of the Bread
Presider:
This is Jesus, Bread of Life.
This is the table where grace cannot be bought and no one earns a better seat.
This is the table where the hungry are fed, burdens are shared, and every person is welcomed as beloved.
All:
We are the Body of Christ.
Everyone is worthy.
Everyone is welcome.
Communion
Presider:
Come to the table.
Bring your hunger.
Bring your hope.
Bring your questions.
Bring your whole self.
There is room for you here.
All are invited to receive Eucharist.
Communion Meditation
All:
Divine Love,
you have given us enough.
Enough grace to begin again.
Enough courage to challenge injustice.
Enough imagination to create something new.
Enough love to share.
Teach us to measure wealth
not by what we accumulate
but by what we give away.
May the hungry be fed through us.
May the lonely find companionship through us.
May the excluded find welcome through us.
May those weighed down by burdens
find someone beside them through us.
Make our lives Eucharist.
Amen.
Closing Prayer
Presider:
Holy One,
we have shared the Bread of Life
and the Cup of Blessing.
Send us now into the world
with generous hearts
and holy imagination.
May we use our money with compassion,
our power with humility,
our voices with courage,
our possessions with generosity,
and our lives in service to love.
When the world tells us
that success means accumulating more,
remind us that Jesus showed us another way.
The richest life
is the life poured out in love.
All:
Amen.
Final Blessing
Presider:
May the God of abundance bless us.
May Jesus teach us to place people before possessions.
May Sophia Spirit give us courage and creativity to lighten the burdens of others.
May we remember that everything entrusted to us can become an instrument of healing.
And may we go forth knowing:
We cannot serve both God and mammon.
We choose love.
We choose justice.
We choose the larger table.
We choose the Gospel.
All:
Amen.
Presider:
Go in peace to love and serve one another and to build a world where everyone has enough.
All:
Thanks be to God. Amen
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