TWENTY FIFTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR "C"

Cycle “C”: Luke 16, 1 – 13

Today’s Gospel carries the story of the wily or cunning steward. A dishonest fellow. He gets a commendation from Jesus, not for his dishonesty but for his worldly prudence. It was Jesus’ way of teaching us a valuable lesson. This steward was probably guilty of some shady deal besides wasting his master’s property. Yet, his master praises him. Certainly not for his fraud and injustice, but for the astuteness, farsightedness and tenacity he showed in pursuing his projects. Isn’t that what we constantly see in the world around us today? Relentless pursuit of all that will procure riches, comfort and pleasure. No effort is spared; no exertion is too much in the race of greed. Jesus knew about the expertise of moneymakers. Nothing brings out our ingenuity so well as the hope of a fast buck.

Now, by contrast, how remiss and apathetic the “children of light” are in their pursuit of heavenly goods!  “Learn from the worldly,” is the lesson Jesus teaches us in this parable.

Jesus advises his disciples to be farsighted and imaginative in their use of money.

Jesus does not condemn possessions or wealth in themselves. It is the way we use these things and the degree of attachment to them that is in question here. When the case is really difficult, I can only stand aside, because there are parents who struggle, even deprive themselves in order to feed and clothe and educate their children.  These are selfless, almost heroic, people who call for our prayer and encouragement. So I’m not talking about them.  I am talking about the religious belief among prosperous people that making more money is a sacred obligation. And if this involves bypassing Sunday Mass, or opting for a purely secular education for son or daughter, or spending long periods away from home, or being a smuggler or arms dealer, or sacking a loyal worker...they shrug their shoulders and say, “Too bad, I had no other choice.”

Walking down the streets in a modern city, you can overhear scraps of conversation. The scraps always include a number, an astronomical number. When the family’s mealtime conversation is always about money, the lack of it or the chance of it, that’s a sign of their priorities. Is there no real joy without a price tag? Is there anything worth having if you cannot put a figure on it? Being hooked on money is bad enough. Infinitely worse is the readiness to act unjustly in order to become rich.

A few years ago a foreign news channel carried an item about certain peope who were selling sub standard parts to airlines, bits from scrap yards, second hand article; and about people within the airlines who were willing to risk the lives of their passengers’ by using such parts. And what about drug traffickers and food adulterators who are exposing people to a slow death? Such people’s conscience is hardened.  Their adoration of money must amount to fanaticism. But there must have been a day when they took a first step, the first tiny step. They were not born that way. So when did they cut the first corner? Do we cut corners on our integrity?

I can view my material wealth in two distinct ways. On the one hand, I can see it as entirely mine, to do with as I please for my own gratification; in which case I may end up with lots of things  -  but very few friends. Or I can see my wealth as an instrument of my discipleship, to be used wisely and prudently for the good of others and the advancement of God’s kingdom. I can, if I so choose, invest it in an earthly bank and gain lots of interest; or I can gladly put it in God’s ‘bank’, and one day it earn heavenly dividends. How do I do this? By giving to the poor, by making it available to Christian relief or missionary work  -  in essence, by seeing it as a trust from God rather than my own personal property. If I do this, it may very well be that at the judgement day there will be those who rise up to greet me as one whose generosity transformed their lives.

There is a little story about Constantine, the Roman Emperor, who made Christianity the state religion in AD 320. One day he had a vision in the sky, with the motto, “In this sign you will conquer.” The sign was not of the dollar or Euro or Roman currency; it was the sign of the Cross.

PRAYER (Jan Pickard)

God of our daily lives,

we pray for the people of the cities of this world

working and without work;

homeless or well housed;

fulfilled or frustrated;

confused and cluttered with material goods

or scraping a living from others’ leavings;

angrily scrawling on walls,

or reading the writing on the wall;

lonely or living in community;

finding their own space

and respecting the space of others.

We pray for our sisters and brothers,

mourning and celebrating –

may we share in their suffering and hope.