25th
SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13 (or
"No servant can serve
two masters…
You cannot serve God and money. “
Today's gospel offers us some lessons to ponder upon. But all seem to be directed to one central theme regarding master and servant relationship. These dominant points are: prudence, trustworthiness and faithfulness. As these virtues build a healthy relationship between the master and the servant, so too are they strong determinants for us to be considered true and faithful servants under one master, God.
1. "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 the children of the light.” Today's parable is quite difficult and even disappointing. Since we are used to associating religion with piety, we seem uncomfortable to hear Jesus make this dishonest steward the star of his story. But actually, the steward's dishonesty is not the point of the parable. We may not know exactly the real intention of Luke, but we have good reasons to suppose that even the evangelist himself does not intend to teach dishonesty. And much less does Jesus. Certainly, the dishonesty of the steward is not the intended lesson, but his prudence. The parable portrays him as someone as quick and clever as to insure security for his future. Such is a kind of virtue which Jesus wants everybody to have in dealing not only with perishable things but also with imperishable ones. Perhaps, experience may help us understand all the more the meaning of the parable.
When it comes to business, profit-making, political career, making friends and loyalties, and sometimes even love life, man does not want to make chances. He wants and intends to be one hundred and one percent successful. Thus, he does everything to turn situations at his favor. He makes sure he has all the aces. This is the attitude of man in this world, and this is exactly the attitude of the steward in the parable. And the master commends the steward for that. But the parable does not stop there. It goes on to tell us that if man does this for the things of this world, he has even more and better reasons to be one hundred and one percent sure of his salvation. But sadly, experience seems not to say so. That is most probably why Luke would situate his parable in a down-to-earth experience hoping that this simple truth about human attitude might ignite in man a burning interest in God's kingdom, in the truest home of his Master. This is the most prudent way in dealing with everlasting life. As there will be no turning back when the hour comes, man then ought not to make chances. There might be no sense of risking eternal life, but there is indeed much sense in risking everything for it.
Now, the steward's prudence has another good element. This element is generosity. Of course, this generosity may have just been a necessary consequence of his cleverness. But for sure, what he had given off to the tenants or debtors may not anymore be taken back by the master because of generosity. By justice, the master can claim it back. But by generosity, he may just forget about it. Our prudence in dealing with salvation must also focus on the generosity of God. We don't know when the hour comes. We don't know either if we will be that prepared when it finally comes. The parable seems to suggest that prudence must teach us to bank on God's generosity. There is one sure way of winning heaven, and that is, by relying on his infinite mercy. Justice may just bring us to our righteous punishment. But his generosity, his mercy, his love…surely makes our unworthy souls taste the glory we may never expect at all.
2. "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.” Any good relationship is always built on trust. It is the very foundation of friendship. Once trust is destroyed, relationship becomes terribly affected and friendship is gone. This is practically the case of the dishonest steward in our parable. Although he might have excelled in prudence, he surely failed to be trustworthy. This is the difference between the two. While prudence is the virtue which enables us to make decisions in the "here and now" situation, trustworthiness flourishes as a virtue in and through the passage of time. In other words, while prudence is confrontative, trustworthiness is durative. Meaning, the longer a person is worthy of trust, the more this virtue shines in him. That is why success in married life also points to this important virtue. Trust is a concrete manifestation of love. Love without trust may simply be an empty feeling or a plain lip service. Our relationship with God must also be like this. He is our Master and we are his servants. But more than that, this master-servant-relationship that binds God and man is also something filial. It works like the relationship of father and son. God entrusts to us different gifts and the way to our heavenly home not just as a master entrusts something to his servant, but as a father entrusts his inheritance to his son. Therefore, it is expected of man to be even doubly worthy of trust because God is both master and father to him. That is why sin is always a betrayal. And it is a betrayal both to the master's trust and the father's love.
3. This betrayal
takes its highest form in idolatry. That is why the first commandment of the Decalogue
is a stern and strong prohibition against its any form. He is the one and only
God, and man must therefore worship and adore no other god than him. In a
similar fashion, such commandment seems to
be repeated today: "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 money.”
From prudence and trustworthiness, the gospel narrows
down to faithfulness. And again, man is called to be faithful to God not only
because he is his master, but above all, because God is his father. Especially
in our world today, man cannot live without money.
True, man does not live by bread alone. But surely, he lives by bread too.
Thus, money is his companion. But more often,
money becomes man’s madness too. He wakes
and sleeps with money in his mind. Sometimes, he is even not anymore able to
sleep thinking about his money. In situations like this, money ceases to be a
good companion. It now becomes man's enslaving master. It is in this sense that
money becomes God's strongest competitor. Man's faithfulness and fidelity to
him is tested and shaken to its foundation. Thus, some men take money and
forget about God. Others still think of God, but only to make money out of him.
But worst, there are still those who use money to despise God. This could be
man's most painful exchange to God's unwavering love both as a master and a
father. So, this faithfulness taught in the gospel is characterized by love
and devotion. The true and faithful servant
is he who loves and is devoted to his master. So too is the true and faithful
son. No sweeter thing can a master and a father ever have than a faithful
servant and son.