“No slave can serve two masters.
You cannot serve God and wealth” (Lk. 16:13),
You cannot serve God and wealth” (Lk. 16:13),
My
dear brothers and sisters,
The
message of today's readings calls us to choose who we will serve during our
lives. It reminds us that we cannot be slaves to the world and to God. As Catholics,
as slaves of God, we are forever indebted to our Lord for our salvation.
In the first reading, we hear
the prophet Amos championing the poor. He criticises the rich not because they
are rich but because they have unjustly treated the poor. The Israelites were waiting impatiently for
the end of the holy days and Sabbaths so that they could proceed with their
dishonest practices.
Amos the prophet was address
people who were a lot like many Catholics today. They were very aware of their
religious obligations, and they were careful to fulfill them, but after they
had fulfilled their religious obligations they considered the rest of their
lives their own, to live pretty much however they pleased.
The
parable in the today’s Gospel of Luke [Lk. 16:1-13] draws our attention to the image
of the dishonest manager. Jesus tells this parable to shake
people out of their complacency. Through His preaching, Jesus has shown people
a new way of living life. He has proclaimed the Kingdom of God, and Jesus is
confronting his listeners with the need to decide: for Him, or against Him. Although calling
this manager "that dishonest steward," Jesus praises
him for that: not for his dishonesty, but because he acted boldly and did what
he could to help others.
The dishonest steward reminds us of something deep in our Catholic
tradition. Back in the fourth century St. John Chrysostom said: "Not to enable the poor to share in our goods
is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not
ours, but theirs." The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes St.
John Chrysotom: What we have does not ultimately belong to us. We are
administrators - stewards of God's gifts. Like the dishonest steward, when we
give to the poor, we are assuring that someone will welcome us into eternal
life.
Be like the steward in today's Gospel, let us get out with the
people, make the best of a difficult situation. Jesus assures us that if we are
trustworthy with small things, he will give us greater responsibilities. He
will give us what we need to be good and prudent stewards. Amen
