The Gospel
for today, “the parable of the dishonest steward”, is very puzzling of Jesus’
parables.
There
is a man responsible for caring for his master’s goods and money. He’s been caught lining his own
pockets, squandering his master’s property and money. The master says to him
your services are no longer required. Now, at this point, this unjust steward
panics because, in the society of Jesus’ time, there’s no unemployment compensation,
insurance, or welfare when someone loses his job, especially an older man. He
was in danger of losing his life unless he had someone wealthy in his family
who could support him. So, this man is put into a dire situation.
Now,
what does he do? First, he realises his condition. He says, “look, I’m too old
to dig; I’m too proud to beg”. Then he called in his master’s debtors one by
one. To the first, he said how much do you owe my master? He replied, “100
measures of olive oil”. He told him, “Here’s your promissory note, sit down
quickly and write fifty”. Then to another, “how much do you owe?” He replied
100 cores of wheat. The steward told him, “Here’s your promissory note, write
one for 80. So, he calls on these and cheats his master further in order to
ingratiate himself with these men and thereby maybe find a softer landing when
he’s removed from his job.
He’s
certainly widely clever, but he’s doubling his immortality. But Jesus here
praised this unjust steward for being prudent and clever. That is the twist in
this parable. We should not take this parable in a literal sense. So, Jesus did
not praise him for his immoral act, never. But for his prudence and cleverness
for life to come.
So,
Jesus teaches us that we all are stewards of one Lord to whom all wealth
belongs. As we read in the Psalms: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in
it, the world, and all who live in it; (Ps 24:1)”. We are the stewards to whom
He has entrusted them, and we must give account to the master one day. And we
are simply allowed to give it to the needy. That is to say that we should not
cling to the things of this world. Let go of your possessions and find your
treasure in heaven.
Now
there are three great spiritual lessons in this parable.
First,
The unjust steward is in serious trouble, and he knows it. The crisis here in
the Gospel means a decision or judgement. A decision has to be made. A decision
for repentance, for the change of our life. Jesus started preaching the Gospel,
saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and
believe in the gospel.” So, I think we live in a permanent crisis situation spiritually.
Jesus has made God’s life available, and we’ve got to choose it. We need to
make a decision.
Secondly,
the man in the parable makes a very clear and very honest assessment of
himself. He knows his time is up. He says, look, I’m too old to dig. I’m too
proud to beg. He admits that he is weak both physically and spiritually.
When
we’re in a crisis, we are compelled to have a sort of honesty about ourselves.
Many of us go through most of our lives living complacently, I got a few
problems here and there, but basically, I’m okay. But when the moment of crisis
comes, we realise we’re in a life and death situation, and then there’s no room
for this kind of dishonesty.
Think
for a second, somebody who has gone through most of his life eating as he likes
drinking whatever he wants, smoking, not exercising, and then comes the sickness,
it wakes him up. Once you know you’re in crisis, then there is no room for
self-deception.
Now,
he realises, “I was not eating right, I was not exercising, I shouldn’t be smoking,
and I’ve got to change. I think what Jesus admires in this unjust steward is
his honest self-assessment. Things are not right in my life, and the man is
able to make the assessment precisely because he’s scared and he knows he’s in
crisis.
So,
we in spiritual crisis have to be able to say, Lord, I know all is not right
with me. I know my spiritual life is not where it should be. I’m not praying
the way I should. I know my relationships are not right. I know I’m not caring
for the poor. I know I’m not doing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. I
know I’m not attending mass. I know I’m not participating in the sacraments. We
can lie to ourselves as long as we don’t think we’re in crisis, but when we
wake up to our need for God, then we can say, like this unjust steward, all is
not right with me.
Third
and final quality is that this man acts. He acts immorally. Jesus is not
telling us to be immoral but what he admires is his resolute action. He’s in
crisis. He knows his own weaknesses. He’s assessing himself honestly, and then
he decides to act.
Go
back for a second to our man with all bad eating habits and smoking and no
exercising, and he has the heart attack. He realises the fact that he’s in
crisis. He knows his own weaknesses. And if he doesn’t act, doesn’t change,
that man’s in a ridiculous situation more than a ridiculous dangerous
situation.
So,
if our prayer life’s weak, start praying NOW, today. If I’ve been staying away
from the sacraments, Holy Mass, get back to them NOW. If my relationships are
off, fix them now. If we don’t do the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, let
us act decisively.
Decisive
action is the end result of awakening from crisis, and I think that’s what
Jesus wants us to see today. There’s no time to waste in the spiritual life.
The time for judgement and decision is not tomorrow, not next week. It’s NOW,
TODAY. And so let us act.
May
God bless you.
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