Feast of St Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church.

Feast of St Leo the Great. Pope and Doctor of the Church. 

"Jesus said to his disciples,

“A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.

"He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’

"The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’

"He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ 

"Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ 

"And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.” (Luke 16: 1 - 8).

Friday 10th November 2023 of the 31st Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of a giant of our faith: St Leo the Great. (+ 461). Pope. Italian. Doctor of the Church.

Leo was from a Roman aristocratic family. He was the first of three popes in the history of the Church to be called "the Great."

Pope Benedict XVI said that Leo's papacy "was undoubtedly one of the most important in Church history." Leo is remembered in history for many things. Here are the two things that stand out:

#1 Leo put his stamp on the authoritative definition of who Jesus Christ is: Jesus Christ is true God (100%) and true Man (100%).

#2 In 452, Pope Leo confronted Attila the Hun and persuaded the conqueror of the whole of the Italian Peninsula from sacking and torching Rome, the capital of the Roman empire.  

How do we apply the Gospel of today? 

The Church teaches us to have constantly in mind the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. There is no escaping this truth. Our key Scripture for today deals with Judgment in accounting terms.

Every steward knows that once or twice a year, he renders account of his stewardship to his master in terms of profit and loss. After our death, we will render an account of our stewardship to the Eternal and Merciful Judge, Jesus.

At our birth, we received gifts of Time, Talent and Treasure. How have you invested your gifts? What are the returns on the investments? If you show profits, you will hear  "Welcome" and be promoted to eternal life. If you do not report profits, you will hear "Depart from Me..."

This life is short. Even if you live to 100, it is still a short life especially compared to eternity. It is the duty of Religion to remind everyone of this truth. Do not put all your eggs in the one basket of money and material prosperity.

St Leo, Doctor of the Church had his teachings in volume of tomes. Here is a quote from St Leo that I like:

"Recall how you had been wrested from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God (Col 1:13). Through the sacrament of baptism you were made a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away such a dweller by your wicked actions and subject yourself again to servitude under the devil, because your price is the very blood of Christ, because he will judge you in truth who has redeemed you in mercy." (St Leo the Great). 

November is the Month we pray for the Souls in PURGATORY. 

"The souls in Purgatory repay the prayers that we say for them.” “When we pray for the souls in Purgatory we will always get something back.” (St Padre Pio). 

For Catholic Church teaching on the Souls in PURGATORY and how to help them, click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/10/10-ways-to-assist-poor-souls-in.html

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com