No one likes to hear talks about money from the pulpit. However, no matter how you look at it, both of today’s readings are about financial matters.
In St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, he thanks the members of this community for the financial support he had received from them while he was still going from place to place sharing the Gospel. Now, however, he is in prison. Unlike our Department of Corrections, in Jesus time, the prison guards were not responsible for seeing that the imprisoned were fed. A prisoner needed someone on the outside to provide for them. It seems that St. Paul was sustained through the charity of the Philippians.
The Gospel passage offers three lessons that can be learned from the parable of the unjust steward. If not for yesterday’s special feast, we would have heard the parable on Friday. Immediately following the parable are three possible ways to understand the message of the parable.
First, make sure that your motives are just in pursuing economic sustenance. Don’t cheat or steal. You may know of someone who gets away with such conduct, but God will ask them to answer for their duplicity.
Also, be trustworthy even in trivial concerns. If you can be trusted in small things, you will likely be trusted in greater.
Finally, remember to serve God first. It is impossible to serve God and money.
Notice that Jesus’ words fall on the deaf ears of the Pharisees. They put on a good show, but they are guilty of being untrustworthy in their responsibilities.
We can sum all of this up in one word – generosity. One who is generous comes to the aid of those in need. Their generous nature extends to their dealings with their neighbors. Generous people also tend to be trustworthy people. God has been generous to us; the only way to show our gratitude is to be generous in return.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator