8th Sunday after Pentecost.

 The Propers of the Mass for the eight Sunday after Pentecost.

The First changeable part of the Mass is the Introit

We have received, O God, Thy mercy in the midst of Thy temple according to Thy name,

O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of justice.

Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

We have received, O God, Thy mercy in the midst of Thy temple according to Thy name, O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of justice. Amen.

Next we pray The Collect

Bestow upon us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we who cannot exist without Thee, may be able to live according to Thy will. 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

The Epistle is read by the priest on the right side of the Altar

Brethren, We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die but if by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. For whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba (Father). For the Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God and if sons, heirs also, heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ.  Amen

We will draw aside a little; while I will share with you a few words by the holy priest Father Leonard Goffine’s as he ponders on the epistle

Who lives according to the flesh ? He asks and answers:

Those who follow the evil pleasures and desires of corrupted nature, and do the works of the flesh: impurity, lewdness, and gluttony. Such men are not directed by the Spirit of God, For the Spirit of God does not dwell in the sensual man they are not children of God, and will be no heirs of God, and they will die the eternal death.

But he who is directed by the Spirit of God, and with Him and through Him crucifies his flesh and its concupiscence, He is inspired by the Holy Ghost, who then dwells in him, and with confidence

in God, he cries: Abba Father

By this confidence he is assured that he is a child of God, and also an heir of heaven and coheir with Christ.

Prove yourself well, my Christian, that you may know whether you also live according to the flesh, and strive to mortify the carnal, sensual desires by prayer and fasting. In this way you become a child of God and heir of heaven.

ASPIRATION. Strengthen me, O Lord, that I may not

live according to the desires of the flesh, but resist them

firmly by the power of Thy Spirit, and that I may not die

the eternal death. Amen

Here is the Gradual

Be Thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of refuge, to save me.

In Thee, O God, have I hoped: Lord, let me never be confounded. Alleluia, alleluia. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. Alleluia.

Gospel

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples this parable: There was a certain man, who had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods; and he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee?

Give an account of thy stewardship, for now thou canst be steward no longer, And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord takes away from me the stewardship?

To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, that when I shall be put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses, Therefore calling together every one of his lord’s debtors, he said to the first:

How much dost thou owe my lord? But he said: A hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe my lord? Who said: A hundred quarters of wheat.

He said to him: Take thy bill, and write eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward, as much as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.

And I say to you: Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. Amen

We will include here Father Leonard’s Moral instruction on the Gospel of the steward accused.

He asks us: Who are represented by the rich man and his steward? Then answers:

The rich man represents God, the steward, man.

To man God has confided the various goods of body, soul, nature and grace:

Also God has given us our five senses.

He has endowed us with health, strength of body; beauty; skill; power over others; memory, intellect, free will, faith, intelligence, aspiration, time and opportunity for good, temporal riches, and other gifts.

These various goods of body and soul, God gives us not as our own, but as things to be used for His honor and the salvation of man.

God will therefore demand the strictest account of us if we use them for sin, luxury, seduction, or oppression of others.

Father further ask us to consider What was Christ’s view in relating this parable?

To urge us to works of charity, especially to the actual support of the poor, by giving alms.

Adhereing still to the Gospel story Father asks What friends do we make by almsgiving?

According to St. Ambrose they are, besides the poor, the saints and angels, even Christ Himself; for that which we give to the poor, we give to Christ. {Matt, chapter 35.)

And: He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him. (Proverbs 19: 17.)

“The hands of the poor,” says Peter Chrysologus, “are the hands of Christ.” By the hands of the poor we send our riches to heaven, where we will find them after death; for the prayers of the poor like the prayers of the saints, whom we thus make our friends, will decide God to give us the grace to die happily.

Why did his lord commend the steward?

Because of his prudence and foresight, but not for his injustice; for he adds: The children of this world are wiser than the children of light; that is, the earthly minded know better how to manage, and they take more trouble to obtain earthly goods, pleasures, and enjoyments, than do the children of light, the pious, to please God by good works, and to lay up treasures in heaven.

Why is wealth called unjust?

Because riches are often obtained and retained by injustice,

often lead man to injustice, and because they are often squandered

or unjustly used.

SUPPLICATION, Grant me the grace, oh my just God and Judge, that I may so use on this earth the goods confided to me by Thee, that I may make friends, who at my death will receive me into eternal joys.

Offertory Antiphon

Thou wilt save the humble, O Lord, and wilt bring down the eyes of the proud; for who is God but Thee, O Lord?

Secret Prayer

Accept, we beseech Thee, oh Lord, the gifts of Thine own bounty, which we bring Thee: that these holy and sacred Mysteries, by the working of the power of Thy grace, may sanctify us in our conduct of this present life and bring us to everlasting joys. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

Communion Antiphon

Taste and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopes in Him.

Postcommunion Prayer

May this heavenly mystery be to us, oh Lord, for renewal of mind and body: that we may enjoy the fruits of that which we celebrate. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen