Jesus said to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
We are meant to act as stewards of all that we have and all that we are. God is the one who has bestowed the riches of his gifts upon us. But they are meant to count for something. He has made us for a purpose. This purpose is ultimately to love God and to love all things in him and for his sake. In doing so we return ourselves (and together with us all things) as a gift back into his hands. Yet when we hear, "Prepare a full account of your stewardship", how many of us are confident that we have not subverted some of the resources we have been given toward lesser goals? There are many good and noble things that can be done with what we have received. The gifts of God is not limited to a single path like a train on a railroad track. But there are also still more choices which are not befitting the greatness of the graces we have received. This is squandering our stewardship. And to some extent all of us are guilty of it.
The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
The steward in the parable was smart enough to realize that holding onto wealth in the face of a threat to his very livelihood and stewardship wasn't going to accomplish anything. It would all be gone together with the stewardship. So he disposed of it in advance so that he would have relationships that would endure when wealth failed. It's true that the wealth wasn't really his to do with as he pleased. Nevertheless, the master grudgingly acknowledged the cleverness of his tactics.
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
The master seemed to realize that the steward was finally beginning to see things according to their true value. Worldly wealth was so deceptive that it was not something in which one should trust. Rather, it was by helping people, and establishing relationships that a more true form of value was to be found.
The first question for us is whether we cling to the things of this world, things that we cannot keep, at the expense of things of external consequence? Most of us would have to admit that we do this at times. So how then do we win the help of others to welcome us into eternal dwellings when our wealth fails? We must not become dishonest like this steward. But we must still be willing to put relationships first and things in a distant second.
Our master is rich in grace. He is not diminished when the power of his Gospel is shared with others. The mercy that we have received is a mercy that we ourselves can give away with no dishonesty. There are many in the world still related to the master through a debt of sin. We can announce to them that the forgiveness of their debts is available in Jesus Christ and through the sacraments of his Church. Those who receive this mercy and freedom will then become advocates for us at judgment day. They will then be among the first to welcome us to eternal habitations in heaven.
For I will not dare to speak of anything
except what Christ has accomplished through me
to lead the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,
by the power of signs and wonders,
by the power of the Spirit of God,
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