25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 18, 2022

We have to choose between the values of Jesus and the values of the world

Luke 16: 1–13

Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.

He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’

The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.

I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’

He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’

Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

“For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.

If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?

If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Music Meditations

• My Worth Is Not in What I Own—Francisco Ortega
• Simple Gifts—Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss
• Lead Me, Guide Me—Elvis Presley (!)
• Be Thou My Vision—Celtic Worship Band

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, open our eyes to the ways of the world that frequently entice us to act in our own interests and not in the interest of the common good or the interest of another individual. Help us to know what to do when life gets difficult. We pray that you will guide us the next time it does.

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions”, 2007

The parable is the main feature, so let’s focus on it. The steward has been caught. We aren’t sure of his exact offense, but he has been reported for “squandering” the rich man’s property. He is in trouble and needs to act quickly and decisively. And he does. He reduces the debts owed the master. Hasn’t he acted dishonestly again? How can he be praised for that? This gospel passage has been a challenge to those who read and study the scriptures. It’s possible the steward was charging extra interest from the debtors, hoping to make a profit for himself. If so, by his discounting the debts he was eliminating his own dishonest gains. Since usury was forbidden by Jewish law, the steward was doing what he should have been doing in the first place as an observant Jew. Or, maybe the steward was eliminating the commission he would have rightfully received for himself. You can see why the sayings (8b-13) are placed after the parable. The first saying is certainly applicable, “the children of this world are more prudent with their own generation than are the children of the light.” The steward acted shrewdly in a crisis situation and for that he deserves praise.

Jesus may be suggesting that his followers will face another kind of urgency in their own generation. If Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and is punished and dies, what will his followers do in that crisis? Will they be “children of light” and have the wisdom to continue choosing Jesus and his ways in that and any other crisis they face? Or, will they be “children of the world” and go for the quick fix and the easy way out? What will we do when crisis occurs in our lives? It has and it will again. We hope we will be the “prudent” stewards who take serious stock of the situation and once again turn towards the light.

The parable invites us to examine our use of material possessions. One of the central themes in Luke’s gospel is the suspicion Jesus conveys towards worldly wealth. Material things can trap us and divert our attention from what truly matters in life. Haven’t we seen families divided over possessions and inheritances; marriages ruined by a spouse preoccupied with business dealings; wars fought over land and resources; lives ruined for the sake of the “bottom line,” etc. We can “make friends with dishonest wealth.” There are wealthy people in Luke’s gospel who seem to follow the thrust of the parable and make wise use of their time and their wealth. They use their possessions to serve Jesus as “children of light.” E.g. the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive ointment (7:36 ff) and Zaccheus, who gave half his possessions for the sake of the poor (19:18).

People in gospel times and now have figured out how to use their resources in God’s service. Stirred by teachings like today’s gospel, they have decided to act quickly and decisively when occasions arise. Not because they gave everything away, though some did, but because they never let “mammon” rule their lives or be the sole guide for their decisions. For example. Smart business people have financed and helped train the unemployed so that they could find work and support their families. Others have helped the elderly organize their finances so that they could pay for crucial medications and health care. Lawyers have argued cases for those who couldn’t afford to pay them. Teachers have donated after-school hours to kids who need a hand to catch up. We have many kinds of resources that can be used—guided by Jesus’ wisdom. The gospel gives us an example of someone who knew what he had to do in a crisis situation and Jesus directs us to act quickly and behave similarly—but under the direction of “the light.”

As we examine the complexities of the parable, its subsequent sayings and its social and cultural aspects, we can get side tracked in studious details and miss the obvious impact of Jesus’ images and words. He is asking us about our fundamental choices and loyalties. He wants to know who or what comes first in our lives. If, after reflection, we discover that we have been acting more like “children of this world” and less like “children of the light,” then this parable can serve as an impetus to “set things right.” It also advises us to be quick about it! To put it crassly, God’s and only God’s business should be first in our lives.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

The person who is untrustworthy in very small matters is also untrustworthy in great ones

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Some of Jesus’ teachings are difficult to hear and difficult to understand. How do I react when I come across a difficult passage in scripture?
  Do I take it absolutely literally, no matter the obvious impracticality?
  Do I try to manipulate the meaning so it is easier for me to swallow?
  Is there a third way?
• Who are children of the world and what are their values?
  Who are children of the light, and what are their values?
  Which is harder to live by?
• Like the steward in the parable, when we face a crisis we often have a choice between the way of the world and the way of the light. Has this ever happened to me?
  What did I choose?
• What do I mean by the word “shrewd”?
  Is shrewdness a good thing?
• We are all stewards of the resources we have been given. Have I used my resources wisely, for others as well as myself and mine?
• Do I only focus on those in our society who have more than I do, and has this caused resentment or a carelessness with goods belonging to others?
  Have I truly been careful with someone else’s property?
  Have I ever borrowed something and never quite remembered to give it back?
• Do I give to those who have less, or do I hoard gifts and goods for myself and mine?
• I am also a steward of the earth. What have I done to protect and preserve this planet and all creatures in it?
• Like the steward with his master, do I take stock of where I stand with God?
• Has honesty been perverted in our society?
  Are there individuals and companies who engage in dishonest practices for personal gain?
• Do we speak of “little white lies” as if they were not lies at all?
  Have I ever played fast and loose with the truth to get what I wanted?
  Have I ever played fast and loose with the truth at the expense of someone else?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine yourself as the person who fell afoul of the boss and got dismissed. You do not have any particular talents. What will you do to support yourself? Might it be smart to go to the various vendors of the company you work for and try to strike a deal? To what lengths would you be willing to go to gain new employment? (Would you take a list of clients with you, or take some information that might be proprietary but would help you get ahead in the new company? Would you take a few key employees and set yourself up as a competitor?) To what extent are you careful of another’s property? Ever cheat on an exam? Copy someone’s problem set? Tell the teacher the dog ate your homework? How about copyright laws—did you ever make a copy of a song, a presentation, a speech owned by someone else? Make a copy from a book without the writer’s permission? Where do we draw the line for personal integrity? Is it somewhat fluid? Are there any areas in your life that you need to examine in this regard?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Psalms are very personal conversations with one’s God. The people of Israel were not hesitant to complain to God about the unfairness of the world and their anger and despair over the treachery of others. These psalms of lament are among the most honest prayers in scripture. Read Psalm 12 and then compose your own psalm about the economic world we inhabit, and hat is valued in our society.

Psalm 12

Save me, O LORD, for the holy ones are no more; the faithful have vanished from the sons of men. They babble vanities, one to another, with cunning lips, with divided heart. May the LORD destroy all cunning lips, the tongue that utters boastful words, those who say, “We prevail with our tongue; our lips are our own, who is our master?” “For the poor who are oppressed and the needy who groan, now will I arise,” says the LORD; “I will grant them the salvation for which they long.” The words of the LORD are words without alloy, silver from the furnace, seven times refined. It is you, O LORD, who will keep us safe, and protect us forever from this generation. The wicked prowl on every side, while baseness is exalted by the sons of men.

Poetic Reflection:

For Mary Oliver, what seems to be the values to live by? What is the role of gratitude in becoming “children of the light” as opposed to “children of the age”?

“Messenger”

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord, help me always to choose to act with integrity. Help me to see that if something is a little bit wrong, it is still wrong. Period. Help me to have courage when I feel desperate or trapped in a situation, whether that situation is of my own making or the result of circumstances beyond my control. Help me to keep you as a lodestar in all that I do.