SEPTEMBER 22^nd  2013. TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL                   Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, 'There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, "What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer." Then the steward said to himself, "Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes."

Then he called his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, "How much do you owe my master?" "One hundred measures of oil" was the reply. The steward said, "Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty". To another he said, "And you, sir, how much do you owe?" "One hundred measures of wheat" was the reply. The steward said, "Here, take your bond and write eighty".

'The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.'

'And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . An administrator knows that he will be found wanting when his master examines the accounts. In response, he writes off the debts of others, so winning friends for himself when he is dismissed from employment. In the same way, each one of us will be found wanting when the Lord asks us to give an account of how we have administered the goods given to us. How should we respond? By writing off the debts of others! By showing mercy towards others for the things they have done to us! By using our material goods for the benefit of others! The only way to administer our material goods well in the eyes of the master is to use them for the good of others! Should we be proud of ourselves when we do such good deeds towards others? Absolutely not! Christian action is not a series of admirable deeds originating in abstract principles. Christian action is a response to the One who has loved us more, and to whom we owe an infinite debt of love. Christian action originates in the humble and happy conviction that I cannot adequately repay the Lord for his goodness and mercy to me. As St Francis of Sales said, “I would prefer a barrow load of defects carried by humility than a cartload of talents borne along by pride”. In the same way our good deeds should spring from the awareness of our own defects and the fact that we have been recipients of the Lord’s mercy.

Like the administrator, all of us will be found wanting on the day of reckoning

This difficult text has always posed problems of interpretation. An administrator is accused of being wasteful. The text does not state that the man is actually guilty; all it says is that accusations were made against him. If accusations were made against any of us, then all of us would be found wanting in the sight of the justice of God. None of us could present ourselves before God and say that we have administered his goods well. The more holy a person is then the more he becomes aware of his shortcomings. St Teresa of Avila said that when it is dark we cannot see how dirty the house is, but when there is great light we can even see the dust particles in the air. When the day of reckoning comes, none of us will be able to hold our heads up and say that we have administered all things justly. Even the greatest of saints need Jesus to redeem them by dying on the cross. If that is true of the great saints, then how much more is it true for each one of us!

Like the administrator, each of us has defects that we cannot overcome. We cannot redeem ourselves with our own resources

When the administrator in the Gospel realizes that the day of reckoning is approaching fast, he asks himself what he will do. He recognizes his own limitations, acknowledging that he is not strong enough for manual labour and would be too ashamed to beg. In the same way, each one of us has defects that we cannot overcome. And when the day of reckoning arrives for us, we will not be able to save ourselves by overcoming these defects with our own resources. So what should we do? Let us see what the administrator in the parable does, keeping in mind that this is an analogy and we do not have to imitate him perfectly! The administrator fiddles the books and reduces the debts owed by others to his master. He begins to show a magnanimity towards others, albeit with his own “salvation” in mind.

Like the administrator, we can use our defects as a springboard from which we begin to put ourselves in right relationship with others.

We do not have to engage in such dishonest acts but we can still be true to the spirit of what this administrator has done. Like him we know we will be found wanting on the day of reckoning. We are not able to overcome these defects with our own strength, but one thing we can do is begin to show magnanimity towards others. We can reduce the debts of others towards us by forgiving them freely. We can begin to use the goods that God has given us for the benefit of others. As Scripture says, “Charity covers a multitude of sins”. In this light, the parable fits in perfectly with the rest of the Gospel of Jesus. If others treat us badly, then they give us an occasion to respond with mercy. The Beatitudes state, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall find mercy”. They find it because their merciful acts were themselves a way of looking for mercy! To show forgiveness towards others is nothing other than the principal road to salvation. When we forgive another we sometimes think we are healing that person, but in reality we are also healing ourselves. As St Francis of Sales said, “Rather than a cartload of talents being carried by pride, I would prefer a cartload of defects carried by humility.” Our defects can become a springboard from which we go forth to show mercy towards others. In the same way, all of the goods that we have become the road to redemption if we use them for love.

Christian action does not spring from abstract principles but from the debts of love we owe our maker

Who will defend us when the master asks us to account for the way in which we have administered his goods? Those whom we have forgiven. Those to whom we have shown generosity. Those that we have responded to in a material way and those we have responded to with our hearts. The road to salvation is not the path of great achievements or merit on our part. It is not a catalogue of the wonderful things we have done. It is the path of humility, upon which we realize our defects and our inability to achieve redemption ourselves. Whatever I do manage to do for others must not be done with the notion that I am a wonderful person, making great sacrifices for others. Rather I must do my good deed with the conviction that this is a debt that I am repaying the Lord. It is a happy debt that derives from the goodness of the Lord to me. The Our Father says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive the debts of others.” This notion is at the heart of the Gospel. Christian action does not originate in the abstract notion of just behaviour. Rather it originates in the humble heart of the person who is aware of the great imbalance in the account between him and his maker. The Christian tries to redress this imbalance with acts of love. Such acts do not make the Christian proud, but they give consolation.