Prudence and Discipleship!

Friday, November 10, 2023

Rom 15:14-21; Lk 16:1-8

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about the importance of the virtue of prudence to guide us in our journey of discipleship. 

Many of us may be startled by the idea that Jesus praises the dishonest servant and makes him our example. What does Jesus mean here?

The parable is difficult but not impossible to understand. 

Let us be clear: Jesus is neither praising dishonesty nor making the dishonest servant a model for our discipleship. 

There are at least three ways in which we understand that the dishonesty of the servant is not tolerated. For instance, the rich man is angry with him and does not want him to continue as his servant. Secondly, Jesus gives us two examples to understand how he must have misbehaved with his master’s money (we can safely assume that this is not the first time he has been dishonest with money). Thirdly, in the final verses, we find Jesus talking about the dishonest servant in the category of ‘children of this world’ only to contrast it with ‘children of light.’ He is a child of this world (evil) and not a child of light (good). Hence, Jesus does not justify his insincerity, much less make him our example. 

But still, why is the dishonest servant praised as being prudent? 

The dishonest servant is prudent enough to look for redemption in what he invested his life in. He was after money all his life. Now that he is caught, he is trying to see if ‘what he searched all his life (money)’ would come to his rescue. In arriving at this deliberation, he is prudent, and that is what Jesus is appreciative of. 

We are distracted by many different orientations. We run after money, fame, a career, or wealth. Now we are called to self-examine if what we run after is capable of redeeming us.

If these material pursuits can offer us salvation, then we may be justified in our choice. If not, our pursuit is in vain. (Oftentimes, our material pursuits prove to be meaningless!). 

If we have any doubts about our pursuits, then it is high time we stop running behind them. We should instead orient ourselves toward ‘things of the above.’ 

That is the prudence that Jesus requires of us. Let us pray for the virtue of prudence in our journey of discipleship!

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar