Bishop accountability

The parable in the latter part of today’s Gospel (Matthew 24:42-59) focuses on “the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household.”

It is easy to see how this parable could apply to those who oversee the household of God: bishops most especially.

This parable thus may be seen as the ultimate form of “bishop accountability”. God himself will hold to account the one who abuses his responsibility:

The servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Bishops, of course, are the ones especially entrusted with overseeing the church and they will be held especially accountable by God.

Without taking anything away from the authority of the bishops or any of those who share in that authority, each one of us within the Church has responsibility at different levels that is to be manifested in different ways and yet always with the same goal: “to distribute to them their food at the proper time” – that the truth of Christ may be shared with all according to the plan of God.

You and I therefore will also be held to account by God for whatever stewardship he has entrusted to us.

Tragically, instead of keeping our focus on sharing the truth and love of Christ, we spend too much of our precious time abusing our fellow servants and “having a good time” with the decadent of this world.

May God give you and me the grace to be faithful and prudent in our God-given responsibilities. May he forgive our failures and help us heal what is broken, so that we may not find ourselves before God’s great judgment seat in fear but with gratitude and joy.