1st Reading – Amos 8: 4 – 7;
2nd Reading 1 Timothy 2: 1 – 8;
Gospel – Luke 16: 1 – 13
All the readings of today emphasise 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.
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 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 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. 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 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.
Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, once told a story 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 shrewd 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 using wisely 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, too, saw something that needed to be done and we did it.