Am 8: 4-7; I Tm 2: 1-8; Lk 16: 1-13 Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher,
once told about a make-believe country where only ducks lived. On Sunday morning all
the ducks came into church, waddled down the aisle, waddled into their pews and squatted.
Then the duck minister came in, took his place behind the pulpit, opened the Duck
Bible and read, "Ducks! You have wings, and with wings you can fly like eagles. You
can soar into the skies! Ducks! You have wings!" All the ducks yelled, "Amen!" and
then they all waddled home. No one flew or even tried. Friends, there’s just too much
truth to that little fable. Using the parable of a rascally manager in today’s Gospel,
Jesus challenges us to see that it is time for the children of light to quit waddling.
It's time for us to soar by ingeniously using our God-given talents and blessings
for the welfare of others, thus glorifying God and becoming eligible for our eternal
reward. May we be the people that Jesus praises because we saw something that needed
to be done and we did it. All three selections for today’s liturgy pertain to
the subject of faithful stewardship. Condemning the crooked business practices of
the 8th century BC Jewish merchants of Judea, the prophet Amos, in the
first reading, reminds the Israelites to be faithful to their Covenant with
Yahweh by practicing justice and mercy as God’s faithful stewards. He warns us against
having the making of money by whatever means as the goal of our life. The second
reading, I Timothy, instructs the first-century Judeo-Christians to become true
stewards of the gospel of Jesus, the only mediator between God and man, by preaching
the “Good News” to the pagans and including them in intercessory prayers. Today’s
Gospel challenges us to use our blessings -- time, talents, health and wealth
-- wisely and shrewdly, so that they will serve for our good in eternity. We are
on the right road only if we use our earthly wealth to attain our heavenly goal. Amos
was the first of the writing prophets during the 38-year span when Uzziah was king
of Judah (781-743 BC). For a long time, the territory we call the Holy Land was divided
between a Northern Kingdom called Israel with Samaria as its capital, and a Southern
Kingdom known as Judah with Jerusalem as its capital. In the 8th century BC, Israel
was prosperous only for the upper classes and the corrupt business community, which
exploited the poor people. In those days, commercial activities were forbidden on
the Sabbath and during days around the New Moon. Not only did these predatory merchants
resent the Sabbath rest as a loss of profits, but their business methods were completely
unscrupulous. The businessmen wanted those sacred periods to be over so that they
might get more time to make profits by their dishonest business practices like charging
high prices, using false weights and measures, and selling poor quality merchandise.
Hence, Amos prophesied the downfall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel for its lack
of Covenant morality. In the Covenant relationship between God and his people, loving
compassion and concern for the unfortunate, honesty and integrity were supposed to
be distinguishing qualities in the community. Amos unequivocally declared that God
would not tolerate the abuse of the weak. In the Second reading we have Paul struggling
to get Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians to respect each other and not to compartmentalize
God’s salvation. Hence, in today’s second reading he reminds Timothy (a community
leader equivalent to a bishop), and his congregation that God's concern extends to
all people, not just themselves. Some scholars think that some early Jewish Christians
might have refused to pray for pagans, and that this passage was intended to correct
that mistake. In the passage, Paul insists again that he has been called to take the
Gospel to all peoples. He requests prayers for civil rulers and those in high positions,
so that all people may live a quiet and peaceable life and come to salvation through
the one mediator, Christ Jesus. This teaching is reflected in our modern Prayer of
the Faithful, which should embrace the needs of the whole world, not just those of
the Church. The parable of the crooked steward or dishonest manager from today’s
Gospel, has shocked good Church people for centuries. St. Augustine said, “I can’t
believe that this story came from the lips of our Lord.” Jesus tells a paradoxical
story about the steward (manager), of the estate of a rich absentee landlord. The
steward was an out-and-out rascal. But his boss praised him for his rascality because
he acted with foresight. Facing the coming return of his master and an audit of his
accounts, the steward cleverly converted the debtors of his master into his own debtors.
He bought "friends" with his master’s money, and used these "friends” to secure a
means of livelihood for the rapidly and certainly approaching point when he would
be dismissed (for his previous embezzlement). In Luke’s account there are four morals
drawn from the story to unfold its meaning. The parable advises us to take inventory
of the resources placed in our charge: time, talents, opportunities, health, intelligence,
education, and other advantages. It also challenges us to use these resources wisely
so that they will serve for our good in eternity.
Lessons of the parable
as presented by Luke: 1. Let the children of light acquire the prudence of
the children of this world (verse 8). The steward in the parable was a dishonest
rascal who had been put in charge of his master's estate. His master was probably
a Palestinian landlord residing in a large city. When caught red-handed for misappropriation
of profits, the steward cleverly falsified the entries in the account books so that
the debtors appeared to owe far less than their actual debt. The steward knew that
when his master fired him, he would need friends. His dishonest plan would serve
two purposes. First, the debtors would be grateful to him and would support him financially.
Second, he would be in a position to exercise a little judicious blackmail to silence
them. ‘The children of this world’ are the children of darkness who see and value
only the things of this world. They live for this world, concentrate their attention
on it, invest everything in it, give the energies of mind and body fully to it, and
find in it their entire purpose for living. Christian believers, however, are ‘the
children of light’ who see real, eternal, spiritual values as primary and regard temporal
values as secondary. The children of this world regard themselves as owners, while
true Christians regard themselves as mere stewards of God who view their resources
as merely loaned to them by God. To the Christian, "riches" mean spiritual and human
values. Our stewardship requires us to use our advantages to help others. Obviously,
Jesus was not commending the steward’s dishonesty. He was commending only his shrewd
resourcefulness. The parable points out that Christians should be as prudent and resourceful
in acquiring goodness as the steward was in acquiring money and making his future
safe. Christians must give as much attention to things that concern their souls as
they do to the things that concern worldly matters. In saving our souls and spreading
the Good News, our Lord wants us to apply the same ingenuity and effort that other
people put into their worldly affairs or into their attempts to attain some human
ideal. In other words, our Christianity will begin to be real and effective when we
spend as much time and effort on spiritual matters as we do on worldly activities,
and when the Church uses the worldly business sense of a good steward in conducting
its ministries. 2.Invest temporal goods to acquire eternal welfare.
Jesus reminds us that earthly resources will eventually run out. Hence, our material
possessions should be used for the good of others, to cement friendships wherein lie
the real and permanent values of life. This can be done in two ways. (a)
In regard to eternity. It was a Jewish belief that charity given to the poor
would stand to a man's credit in the world to come. A man's true wealth consisted,
not in what he owned, but in what he gave away. The right use of wealth, according
to Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, is to help the poor, the hungry, and the starving.
That is the way that we make friends with God and please God according to this text.
There are many people in our parish who live a life of generosity. There are many
people in the Catholic Church who understand that God has given us money so that we
can be generous to the needy, the poor and the starving. Thus, many of us are making
wise investments for the future. (b) In regard to this world. A man can use
his wealth not only to make life easier for himself, but also for his fellow-man.
Perhaps he will fund scholarships for students or give to charitable organizations
and missionary endeavors. There are a million possibilities.
3.
Integrity and fidelity are the true yardsticks for promotion and eternal reward (verse
10). A man's way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness
or unfitness to be entrusted with a larger task. No man will be advanced to a higher
office until he has given proof of his honesty and ability in a lower position. Jesus
extends this principle to eternity. He calls us to faithfulness in little things because
most of our life is made up of seemingly small opportunities to do good. Few of us
can hope to "save the world." Still, we can conduct our business in honesty, tutor
a child, visit a person in a nursing home, or help a neighbor in distress and make
a difference in his or her life. Then our Lord will welcome us with the words: “Well
done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will
give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.” (Mt. 25:21). How
we handle our money and our possessions is a test of our character. It reveals whether
or not we are morally qualified to receive the true riches of Heaven. How we treat
what belongs to another is a test of our fitness to be entrusted with our own possessions.
How do we treat others: their name, their possessions, their time, their ministry,
their feelings, their family? The answer will reveal our fitness for true stewardship.
This is why Jesus asked the question, “If you have not been faithful in that which
is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" (verse 12). While we
live on earth we are in charge of things which are not really ours. We cannot take
them with us when we die. They are only lent to us--we are only stewards over them.
On the other hand, in heaven we will receive what is really and eternally ours. Our
heavenly destiny depends on how we use the things of earth. 4. "No servant
can serve two masters" (verse 13). In the Greco-Roman world, the master had exclusive
possession of his slave. A slave had no spare time of his own, since every ounce
of his energy belonged to his master. In this saying, Jesus reminds us that, like
slaves, we cannot serve God on a part-time basis. Once a man chooses to serve God,
every moment of his time and every atom of his energy belong to God. God is the most
exclusive of masters. We belong to Him either totally or not at all. As Christians,
we are called to serve God first. We must not use money and possessions exclusively
to serve our own purposes. Let us remember the proverb, “Money can buy everything
but true happiness, and it can purchase a ticket to every place except to heaven.”
This parable of serving two masters may seem ironic. Perhaps, Jesus was attacking
the Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees cheated a bit on the Mosaic Law so that
they might accommodate themselves to the Roman government. The Pharisees made a
big show of giving small amounts of money to the poor. The lesson is that we cannot
be nominal Christians, calling ourselves “Christians” and committing little wrongs
while expecting God's praise. Life messages: 1) We need to be faithful
in the little things of life: Let us remember Saint John Chrysostom’s warning,
"Faithfulness in little things is a big thing" and Blessed Mother Teresa’s reminder,
“Do little things with great love.” Hence, let us not ignore doing little things,
like acknowledging a favor by saying a sincere “thank you,” or congratulating others
for their success, or sharing in their sorrows and or offering them help and support
in their needs. 2) We need to use our spiritual resources in the Church shrewdly
and diligently. We have at our disposal the Holy Mass and the seven sacraments
as sources of divine grace, the holy Bible as the word of God for daily meditation
and practice, and the teaching authority of the Spirit-guided Church to direct us
in our Christian life. We need to use these resources in such a way that it will be
said of us, "And the master commended them because they acted so shrewdly." 3)
We need to be prepared to give an account of our stewardship. We insure our
houses against fire, storms, flood and thieves and insure our lives by taking life
insurance and car insurance. In the same way, let us insure ourselves for the one
thing that most certainly will happen, namely, our meeting God to give Him an account
of our lives. What really matters, at that time of our Private Judgment by God at
the moment of our death, is how wisely we have used our blessings during our life,
lovingly and generously sharing them with others in need. (adapted from Homilies
of Fr. Tony Kadavil)