Years ago, in another parish, we had high school students serve as evening secretaries or receptionists at the rectory. They answered the phone, took messages, took Mass intentions and the like. When the school held a fundraiser, one of our young receptionists, asked if he could sell his chocolate bars at the rectory. I told him it was OK, a good idea! So, he placed the box of chocolates in the prominent place and attached a sign: “Help Our School—Chocolate Bars $1.50 each. Sales were quite good until I went to the school office and discovered that we were asking $1.00 per chocolate bar! When I confronted the young man about his mark-up, he replied that he was not cheating the school and didn’t see a problem with making a profit for himself! When I told the pastor about it, he replied, “Well, even the Lord praised the dishonest steward for acting prudently!”
In today’s Gospel parable is the Lord praising dishonesty or condoning shady business practices? How are we to understand it? The particular point that Our Lord would have us extract is not to appreciate the corruption of the steward but his ingenuity, his shrewdness. He moved quickly. He did not waste any time to cleverly devise and carry out a scheme to take care of himself after he was fired.
Surprisingly Our Lord asks us to learn from this clever but corrupt man. Even the dishonest can teach us something. The Lord ends the parable by saying, “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation then are the children of light.”
The Lord is telling us to look around and observe how worldly-minded people are craftier in what matters to them than are the spiritually minded—the children of light—in what matters to them. Take note of how the worldly-minded are energetic, dedicated, and disciplined. They sacrifice and go the extra mile for life’s comforts. Their focus is the here and now. They see their treasure in what they possess.
Our Lord wants us to be as energetic and dedicated as they are in what concerns our life of faith. How often our worldly distractions and preoccupations easily push the spiritual, prayer, the Mass, confession to the back burner, if not off the stove all together! “Children of light” realize these are the true and lasting treasures.
Isn’t it really a matter of zeal? What are those things for which we are most zealous? Our Lord said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Here are a few questions for our reflection this week:
When was the last time I spoke to my spouse, my children, my friends, about God, prayer, the Mass?
Do I go throughout the day concerned with meeting my own needs and desires alone, or do I seek out opportunities to help and serve others?
Do I spend more of my free time scrolling through social media than I do digging into God’s Word?
Where do I direct our energy? Are my priorities in line with God’s?
