Today as we celebrate the memorial of St Leo the Great – Pope and Doctor of the Church, Tony Worner, Leader of Formation for St Agnes’ Catholic Parish reads from Luke’s Gospel (16: 1-8) in which Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd manager. Tony makes three unrelated and, maybe, unknown points about today’s Gospel and Memorial. The first: is that if you’ve been following our daily reflections, you will have noticed that we missed all of Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel. Chapter 15 is made up of “The three parables of God’s mercy” – The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost (Prodigal) Son. These three parables are deemed so significant that in the Church’s Liturgical cycle they are kept for proclamation on a Sunday. The second point is about today’s memorial of St Leo the Great. He’s called a ‘doctor’ of the Church. This means that he is recognised as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through his research, study or writing. Included in this group is St Augustine, St Jerome, St Ambrose, St Thomas Aquinas, and St Catherine of Siena. Did you know there are 37 Doctors of the Church with only four of these being women? The last point: We hear the terms “stewardship” and “steward” in today’s Gospel. We have as one of our six parish values – Courageous Stewardship. The introductory paragraph states: At St Agnes’ Catholic Parish we take responsibility for all that has been entrusted to us by those who came before us and seek to preserve and enhance it for the benefit of those who will come after us. We are committed to using and developing our resources in responsible, productive and sustainable ways that bring justice to Christ’s people and planet. Being a good steward means looking after both each other and the environment we live in. Think … who looks after both the needs of a passenger and the surrounds on a plane or ship … a steward! In closing Tony, invites God’s blessing on us.
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