From: Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27
Greetings and Recommendations
[22] I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord. [23] Gaius, who is
host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer,
and our brother Quartus, greet you.
Doxology
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Commentary:
1-16. This long series of affectionate greetings which the Apostle sends the Ro-
mans shows that the early Christians formed one great family, in which each
saw the rest as brothers and sisters (cf. Acts 15:23; Rom 1:13; 1 Cor 1:10; Jas
1:2; 2 Pet 1:10; 1 Jn 3:13; etc.). As we can see from the names given here, this
family contained people from manly different parts of the Empire—Greeks: Andro-
nicus, Olympas, Asyncritus, Hermes; people from Asia Minor or the Hellenic
world: Epenetus, Persis, Patrobas; Latins: Junias, Ampliatus, Prisca, Julia, Ur-
banus; Jews: Herodion, Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, etc. It also included peo-
ple of all types of social background; most of the people mentioned probably
were of humble condition or slaves or freed men, as can be deduced from texts
on funeral slabs; but there were others who had social positions of some impor-
tance, like Prisca, who was a member of a noble Roman family, Aristobulus and
Narcissus, who belonged to “a family”, that is, a household with many servants,
Erastus, etc.
They all felt united by a bond of charity and a common calling to holiness, as
can be seen from references to “the saints” (cf. Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:2; Heb 13:24;
Jude 3; etc.). They were not perfect; we are well aware that they had their limita-
tions (cf. the moral irregularities mentioned in chapter 13, and the disagreements
between the “strong” and the “weak” in chapter 14); but their desire for sanctity
and their charity inspired them to serve one another and to put themselves and
their possessions at the disposal of the Church. Their commitment was such
that they managed to spread their influence in a pagan world and light it up with
the light of salvation. They were families “who lived in union with Christ and who
made him known to others. Small Christian communities which were centers for
the spreading of the Gospel and its message. Families no different from other fa-
milies of those times, but living with a new spirit, which spread to all those who
were in contact with them. This is what the first Christians were, and this is what
we have to be—sowers of peace and joy, the peace and joy that Jesus has
brought to us” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 30).
1-2. Phoebe was probably the bearer of this letter. She came from Cenchreae,
the eastern port of Corinth. Paul refers to her being a “ministra ecclesiae”, a mi-
nister or servant of the church at Cenchreae, perhaps because she helped with
the assistance given to the poor and needy and may have had an auxiliary role
in the baptism of women. Pliny the Younger, in his letter to the emperor Trajan,
makes reference to two such women who helped in the Christian community
(”Letter 10”, 96).
4. Prisca and Aquila were a well-known married couple, as we can see from
other passages in the New Testament (cf. Acts 18:2, 18; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4
19). They probably came to the Apostle’s aid in Ephesus at the time of the riot
of the silversmiths (cf. Acts 19:23-40). Prisca or Priscilla, it has been suggested,
was connected with a Roman family of senatorial rank, the Pudentes. According
to an early tradition, St Paul stayed as a guest in their house in Rome.
5. Epaenetus was the “first-fruit” of Asia, that is, the first to be baptized in that
eastern province of the Empire.
23. Gaius, one of the very few Christians of Corinth whom St Paul himself bap-
tized (cf. 1 Cor 1:14), had made his house available to the Apostle and let it be
used for church assembly.
25-27. Unlike other letters, this one ends with an elaborate poem of praise, or
doxology, addressed through Jesus Christ, to God almighty and wise.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Luke 16:9-15
The Unjust Steward (Continuation)
[10] “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is
dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. [11] If then you have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true
riches? [12] And if you had not been faithful in that which is another’s, who
will give you that which is your own? [13] No servant can serve two masters;
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
[14] The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed
at Him. [15] But He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before
men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomi-
nation in the sight of God.”
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Commentary:
9-11. “Unrighteous mammon” means temporal good which have been obtained
in some unjust, unrighteous way. However, God is very merciful: even this un-
just wealth can enable a person to practice virtue by making restitution, by pa-
ying for the damage done and then by striving to help his neighbor by giving
alms, by creating work opportunities, etc. This was the case with Zacchaeus,
the chief tax collector, who undertook to restore fourfold anything he had un-
justly taken, and also to give half his wealth to the poor. On hearing that, our
Lord specifically declared that salvation had that day come to that house (cf.
Luke 19:1-10).
Our Lord speaks out about faithfulness in very little things, referring to riches
— which really are insignificant compared with spiritual wealth. If a person is
faithful and generous and is detached in the use he makes of these temporal
riches, he will, at the end of his life, receive the rewards of eternal life, which
is the greatest treasure of all, and a permanent one. Besides, by its very na-
ture human life is a fabric of little things: anyone who fails to give them their
importance will never be able to achieve great things. “Everything in which
we poor men have a part — even holiness — is a fabric of small trifles which,
depending upon one’s intention, can form a magnificent tapestry of heroism
or of degradation, of virtues or of sins.
“The epic legends always relate extraordinary adventures, but never fail to
mix them with homely details about the hero. May you always attach great
importance to the little things. This is the way!” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
826).
The parable of the unjust steward is a symbol of man’s life. Everything we
have is a gift from God, and we are His stewards or managers, who sooner
or later will have to render an account to Him.
12. “That which is another’s” refers to temporal things, which are essentially
impermanent. “That which is your own” refers to goods of the spirit, values
which endure, which are things we really do possess because they will go
with us into eternal life. In other words: how can we be given Heaven if we
have proved unfaithful, irresponsible, during our life on earth?
13-14. In the culture of that time “service” involved such commitment to one’s
master that a servant could not take on any other work or serve any other
master.
Our service to God, our sanctification, requires us to direct all our actions to-
wards Him. A Christian does not divide up his time, allocating some of it to
God and some of it to worldly affairs: everything he does should become a
type of service to God and neighbor — by doing things with upright motivation,
and being just and charitable.
The Pharisees jeered at what Jesus was saying, in order to justify their own
attachment to material things; sometimes people make fun of total commit-
ment to God and detachment from material things because they themselves
are not ready to practice virtue; they cannot even imagine other people really
having this generosity: they think they must have ulterior motives. See also
the note on Matthew 6:24.
[The note on Matthew 6:24 states:
24. Man’s ultimate goal is God; to attain this goal he should commit himself
entirely. But in fact some people do not have God as their ultimate goal, and
instead choose wealth of some kind — in which case wealth becomes their
god. Man cannot have two absolute and contrary goals.]
15. “Abomination”: the original Greek work means worship of idols, and, by
derivation, the horror this provoked in a true worshipper of God. So the expres-
sion conveys God’s disgust with the attitude of the Pharisees who, by wanting
to be exalted, are putting themselves, like idols, in the place of God.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.