The Parable of the Dishonest Steward

Today's Reflections

                                                                      

The Parable of the Dishonest Steward 

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Lk 16:1-13

¹[Jesus] said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. ²He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ ³The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ ⁷Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ ⁸And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

“For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. ¹⁰The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. ¹¹If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? ¹²If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? ¹³No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Reflection:

Prepare a full account of your stewardship. Jesus points out to us that we are all stewards of everything we have. He refers especially to our stewardship of money. Whatever money we have, we have from God, and God gives it to us in trust, and we are only stewards of it and not the real owners. Money is not the most important of God’s gifts (though admittedly we see money more easily as grace when we get it). If we are trustworthy with money, we can be trusted with other bigger gifts, but if we are dishonest with money, we shall be dishonest also when it comes to bigger matters. The way we deal with money is a good test of how good stewards we are of God’s gifts.

So, how do you deal with money? It is good to earn money for a living. It is right to save money. But it is not good to use money only for our own benefit. Our use of money should also be beneficial to others. Thus, it is not good to hoard money. Nor is it right to spend it lavishly for luxuries that are meant for show.

But it is good to save money for future necessities and emergencies. It is right to use money in business that will likely bring profit. It is good to make profit. And it is commendable to share what we have earned for the uplift of our fellow men and women and for the evangelization of people.

How do you handle money?

Has it become God’s rival for you?