Mending Our Ways!

Friday, November 8, 2024

Phil 3:17-4:1; Lk 16:1-8

Today’s Gospel invites us to grow in prudence so that we mend our ways and follow Jesus faithfully. 

The Gospel text sets before us a difficult parable but not an impossible one to understand.

At first, we should ask if Jesus admires the dishonest steward. I hope not. The answer lies in the text itself. 

1.Jesus shows the master angry with his dishonest steward and orders him to settle accounts with him. The servant’s dishonesty costs him his job. He is fired by his angry and disappointed master. 

2. Jesus shows two further instances wherein the dishonest servant mishandles the master’s property. (We do not know if he charged the master’s debtors the right amount at least this time, discounting his unjust gains by cooking the account).

3. Jesus distinguishes between the servant who is a ‘child of this world’ (a reference to cunningness and crookedness) and his followers who are supposed to be the ‘children of light’ (a symbol of holiness and blamelessness).

Hence, the misunderstanding that usually surrounds this parable is cleared because Jesus shows the dishonest servant as crooked and cunning. Therefore, Jesus does not present him as a model for us. 

Nevertheless, Jesus admires the prudence of the dishonest servant who gains an advantage from his dishonesty. 

The servant earned his livelihood from ill-gotten gains. The dishonest servant who accumulated money employs the same to save him from distress. That is what is admired as prudence on the part of the servant. 

But the same is not true for all. It is very unfortunate to see people being consumed by what they accumulated after hard work. Here, we clearly miss out on the prudence that the dishonest servant possesses. 

If we can take the help of our money, career, and wealth to liberate us in our difficult times, probably Jesus would call us also prudent. 

Since we see 90 people out of 100 fail in taking the help of what they accumulated to save them in their distress, we cannot certainly rely on this model. 

Instead of relying on material possessions that cannot save us, we will be prudent if we amend our ways and follow the Lord, who can save us always. 

Let us pray for the courage to mend our ways so that we can pursue the Lord, who alone can redeem us unfailingly. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar