25th. Sunday of Year (C) (Amos 8:4-7; 1st. Timothy
2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13)
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The
parable given by Our Lord in today’s Gospel reading is surprising in that He seems to approve of
what appears at first hearing, to be dishonest behaviour.
To
quote a modern scholar: “Quite probably the steward was cancelling his own
sizable commission. He probably had been
used to taking a cut at both ends, first by overcharging clients and second by
embezzling his master’s goods. Now the
steward was giving his cut to others. Moreover, such unprecedented generosity
in the name of the rich master would be received with gratitude and everyone
would praise him (the master) as a hero and a benefactor.’
It
had been what we might call a ‘very dodgy business’ but, taking everything into
account, the master himself was satisfied to let things stand as they were, due
to the fact that, although a considerable sum of his own money was missing due
to his steward’s secret dealings, nevertheless, he, as
master, was secretly very pleased to
find that he had gained a great deal in the people’s improved appreciation of
himself. And so, although somewhat reluctantly,
he decided that it was best for him to accept his former steward’s conniving:
The master commended that
dishonest steward for acting prudently.
Jesus
Himself then went on to add in the same vein:
The children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
What
Jesus wanted to commend to His disciples was the steward’s concern for his
future. Deeply involved in financial
matters on behalf of his master, and not always to his master’s greatest advantage – hence the ‘squandering’
charge brought against him -- he decided that he would have to indulge in even more
‘dodgy business’ when he realized that he was about to lose the job he would not
be able to find again. His one and only aim and purpose in life now
was to provide, somehow, for his future.
Jesus,
therefore, went on to picture a disciple of His engaged, likewise, in the dealings
involving ‘unrighteous mammon’ -- for somebody has to manage the finances of
today’s wicked world -- yet having sufficient Christian faith and personal acumen
to behave himself in such a way as to help him find a welcome into the ‘heavenly
home’ which was the aim of his Christian calling.
Jesus
needed to speak in this startling way in order to draw attention to a great
failing that still affects far too many Christians and Catholics today, who
have no real desire or longing for heaven.
They are usually most positive with regard to the good things of this
world – they want them now, as many and as much as possible; but they are, at
best, only negatively positive as regards heaven. They do not desire heaven, it does not
attract them enough for that; but they are afraid to lose it because they have
been told, and they believe, that it is the only place of joy hereafter, and so
they keep the rules that are supposed to ultimately lead to heaven. The joys of earth are concrete and well
known, but the joys of heaven are very distant, they think; they quite rightly
realize that heavenly joys are very different from and, they would say much
‘better’ than, those of earth, but they have never appreciated, thought on,
prayed over, their faith enough to begin to positively long for
those ‘better’ joys.
Jesus,
therefore, I say, took up the ‘dodgy’ parable of the unscrupulous steward once
again saying:
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest
wealth
‘I
tell you, yes even you who are working with (someone else’s) dishonest
wealth, I tell you, a committed disciple of Mine can do even such work
without becoming dishonest himself; a true disciple of Mine can use his or her
financial talents to work for the good of those suffering because such a
disproportionate amount of the world’s wealth has become ‘dishonest wealth’ in the possession of so relatively few hands
in today’s ‘adulterous and sinful world’.
As
I have said, too many Catholics and Christians have too little spiritual
ambition, or better put, too few spiritual aspirations, and they tend to
justify this lack of both love and hope by
convincing themselves that they are not capable of doing all that seems to be
necessary to attain a special place at the heavenly banquet. They have picked up this impression from
stories told of fabulous saints who seemed able to do the most prodigious feats
of courage and endurance, and give expression to the most ardent compulsions of
love and faith; and, not understanding that such feats were the gift of God
rather than due to the saint’s personal spiritual prowess, they considered them
to be far above their own limited powers, and way beyond any hopes they could
reasonably be expected to cherish for their own Christian fulfilment.
Thus
Jesus was led to propose an alternative attitude:
He who is faithful in very
small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and he who is dishonest in
very small matters is also dishonest in
great ones.
That
is, aspirations for heaven are not to be fed with great gestures: great
gestures are another ‘dodgy business’ much like unrighteous mammon, they can so
easily lead to spiritual pride. On the
contrary, the only truly healthy food for heavenly longings is faithfulness
in the little things of life.
Now
this teaching is exemplified in a saint so much appreciated and acclaimed as is
St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, and yet, it still asks for more than most are prepared
to give. For so many people have a
secret ‘yen’ to be recognized and accepted as being someone, in some way, special,
and indeed special in their human selves today, that is, as they are
here and now. To be so content with God
as to be perseveringly satisfied with and faithful in what is least, demands a
dying to self, a crucifying, which very, very few are willing to wholeheartedly
embrace. They long to see something
resulting from their endeavours, to feel something happening in their prayers;
for, though they might be able to accept others not recognizing them, they
want, at least, to be able to think highly of themselves. And so, they continue, at best, to limp along
the ways of discipleship, and Mother Church finds herself being robbed of the
fruit of her children’s growth in discipleship, and having, far too often, to see
the holiness and vitality, the beauty and truth, of Jesus’ Gospel being given only
the pseudo-worship of words that in no way give full expression to the power
and glory of the Spirit Who is ever trying to lead her and all her children by
surer and more authentic routes along the way of Jesus.
People
of God, let us look to Jesus, and pray for His Holy Spirit again! By so doing we should be able to restore our
hope and renew our love, and we will, thereby, help revitalize Mother
Church. For Jesus Himself was abandoned
by His few disciples, was generally regarded as a failure, and was publicly
subjected to derision and contempt; and still He persevered, despite His
repeated falls, in carrying His Cross all the way to Calvary for love of His
Father, Who had sent Him here on this earth for our salvation. We are,
and aspire to become ever more truly, His
disciples, and surely therefore, we can seek nothing better,
desire nothing more, than that His Spirit should lead and sustain us along the
way of Jesus especially in our loving attention to those little things of life recommended by Our Lord Himself as the surest way towards our heavenly home.
(2022)
