Saturday, February 8 : Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe

Our Lord spoke these words, recorded by the Gospel, to clarify the function of the servants he had set at the head of his people: “Who is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so”. Who is that steward, my friends? Undoubtedly, it is Christ, who said to his disciples: “You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master’, and rightly so, for indeed I am” (Jn 13,13). And what is that master’s household? Surely the one that our Lord himself redeemed from the hands of the enemy and took to himself. This household is the holy and universal Church, spreading with remarkable fecundity throughout the world and priding itself on having been redeemed at the price of his blood… But who is the faithful and wise steward? The apostle Paul shows us when he says – speaking of himself and his companions – “One should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy” (1Cor 4,1-2). And lest any of you should think that only the apostles became stewards or lest some lazy and unfaithful servant should abandon the spiritual combat and fall asleep, the holy apostle demonstrates that bishops are just as much stewards, too: “As God’s steward”, he says, “a bishop must be irreproachable” (Ti 1,7). Therefore we are servants of the householder, stewards of our Lord, and it is we who have received the measure of wheat to be distributed among you.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team