By Fr Eugene Lobo, SJ –
Twenty-Fifth Sunday September 18, 2022 (R)
Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13
All the readings of today emphasize the virtue of Justice. Justice is understood as a certain situation of mind, whereby a man does what he ought to do in the circumstances confronting him. Justice is primarily concerned with conduct in relation to others, especially with regard to the rights of others. In a larger sense justice is not only giving to others their rights but involves the active duty of establishing their rights. God’s justice, or righteousness, is founded in His essential nature. But, just as with man, it is not something abstract but is seen in His relation to the world. God’s justice is not merely gracious, but redemptive. It does not simply apportion rights, it establishes righteousness. It is by the forgiveness of sins that God establishes righteousness, and this is the supreme task of justice. In this context, we are called upon to choose between God and worldly goods. In the Gospel, we have an unjust administrator dealing with a just Manger and the way to use the material goods with an eye on the Kingdom of God.
Today’s First Reading from the Book of Amos speaks against greed. The prophet speaks for the poor and the needy. They have only God as their protector. The Israelites were waiting impatiently for the end of the holy days and Sabbaths so that they could proceed with their dishonest practices. In this specific case, the feast of the new moon was taking place. According to the tradition, the first day of the new moon, like the Sabbath, were days of rest. During these celebrations, without exception, no business was to be transacted. There were a couple of things that the Israelites were doing that were drawing the condemnation of the Lord God.
In today’s Second Reading from the First Letter of Paul to Timothy, we are reminded of our spiritual obligations in accordance with the universal salvation that the Heavenly Father planned for mankind. Paul says that all their supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving should be made for everyone. Here his emphasis is on the Christian’s obligation to pray for all men without exception. Paul exhorts us to pray for those in high positions. It is by the power of prayer that the heart of a disliked person is changed. If everyone was to pray for those in authorities, consequently there would be better persons in power and better service to the public.
Today’s Gospel draws our attention to the parable of the dishonest manager. At the outset, this parable seems to be quite unique and difficult to understand its meaning. It appears as if Jesus is suggesting that He approves the steward who has gain some amount of dishonest wealth. The parable begins with a rich man who is the owner of the property and a manager or caretaker. In those days, as a general rule, the manager was a slave who had been born in the household. The rich man gave the slave a great deal of liberty and often full responsibility regarding the management of his personal property. However, he was required to show a profit for his master, had the opportunity to do some deals on the side. In fact, it was common in those days for managers to overcharge debtors and keep the so-called commission for them.
Having received the necessary information the moment came when the rich man questioned the slave regarding the management of his wealth. The slave was asked to provide a complete account of the rich man’s wealth, or the financial statement. Certainly, this would put the slave in a very bad position. He knew that when the owner verified the accounts, he would be in difficulty. Hence he works out to find a solution. He would give everybody known well to him a credit so that they will only owe the original loan plus a small reasonable interest rate. The one who owes a hundred jugs of olive oil will only owe fifty and make his debt burden light. Again the one who owed a hundred containers of wheat would be counted as only eighty. This way the unjust steward made sure of his reception in the homes of his master’s debtors later when unemployed.
The reality of the story is that the dishonest steward continues squandering his master’s resources by cutting the amount the debtors owe to his master. This brings out all the more shock of the master’s response when he discovers what the dishonest steward has done. He commended the wicked man for acting shrewdly when he was in trouble. The surprising conclusion that Jesus gives here tells of the reaction of the Owner. We must note that the rich man did not praise the manager for being dishonest. He praised him for having taken the proper steps at a time of crisis to cancel the excessive interest that he was demanding for his personal profit. He praised the slave for being shrewd in fixing things and acting smartly so that he would find favour in the eyes of his master and those who had borrowed from him. In a clever way, he managed to manipulate the debtors and put the manager in a position where he cannot reverse these actions without acting shamefully and accruing public disgrace. The dishonest steward will still be fired from his job and we do not know whether he will fully benefit from his evil actions. He had to do something and he did it very cleverly.
The listeners would have understood that this man was simply finding a solution for his difficulties. The moral that Jesus gives his disciples is the shrewdness of the people of the world which ought to be imitated by all. The point of the story is not that it is acceptable to be dishonest so long as one is clever or shrewd. The point is that the time of crisis demands actions of some kind. For Jesus, the advent of the Kingdom of God demands decisive action now. Caution must be set aside and the moment of opportunity seized to make provision for the future. He says that the children of this age are shrewder in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
Jesus adds something more difficult for the disciples to comprehend. He tells them to make friends for themselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. Through these words, Jesus is telling them as he tells us to use wisely the wealth with which they have been entrusted in order to keep our holiness and secure our salvation in the eternal Kingdom of God. To make friends by means of worldly wealth requires one to perform acts of charity by helping the needy with physical items such as food, clothing, and furniture. Honest wealth would consist of spiritual wealth, the treasures that are accumulated in Heaven through acts of charity.
The Gospel reminds us to turn away from self-serving attitudes and to turn towards justice. Jesus speaks loudly and clearly: we cannot serve two masters. The disciple cannot serve God and wealth. He explains this saying that divided loyalty leads to the hating of one and loving the other. If we choose to live as children of light, we must be creative and resourceful in finding solutions that are just and fair to all. The lesson that Jesus is teaching us on this occasion is that worldly people whose interest is in the things of this world are much more clever and zealous in their task than the religious people whose interest is in the spirit. Jesus deliberately tells us of the ingenuity of the dishonest servant who even when is on the verge of being sacked is able to make friends in such a way as to receive their friendship when he is unemployed. The Lord tells us how important it is to manage the wealth we have as we look towards the attainment of eternal life.
We can clearly see that this parable is addressed to us, we who are still living. For the sentence of the rich man, he for whom the dishonest steward works don’t apply immediately: the steward still has time to make arrangements in order to protect himself from what he can see is the inevitable result of that sentence, namely the loss of his employment.
A poor illiterate man wanted to be baptized. The parish priest asked him many questions to see whether he was fit for baptism. “Where was Jesus born? How many apostles did he have? How many years did he live? Where did he die? The poor man knew nothing of all these questions. Irritated, the priest then said, “At least you know prayers like the Our Father and the I Believe”? The man again shook his head. “What do you know then?” asked the priest flabbergasted. The man explained, “Before I met Jesus I was a drunkard who beat up my wife and children; I lost my job and was wasting my life.”
A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl agreed. The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised. That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn’t sleep as he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble. Moral of the story: Give your hundred per cent to everything you do and sleep peacefully.