Today’s Reflection
Gospel:  Lk 16: 1-8
November 10, 2023 | Friday

Today’s Gospel

At another time Jesus told his disciples, “There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him because of fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service, for it is about to be terminated.’

The steward thought to himself, ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know  what I will do: I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be people who will welcome me into their homes.’

So he called his master’s debtors, one by one. He asked the first debtor, ‘How much do you owe my master?’The reply was, ‘A hundred jars of oil.’The steward said, ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write fifty.’ To the second debtor, he put the same question, ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ Then the steward said, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’

The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness: for the people of this world are more astute, in dealing with their own kind, than are the people of light.

Today’s Reflection:

Why would Jesus command us in this parable to make friends with stolen or dishonest money? What Jesus instructed us to do is to pay off our debts with the Master’s money, which is a heavenly treasure. This means to say that we squander the inexhaustible wealth of our Father in heaven to win salvation for our brothers and sisters and our own. St. Augustine in his writings further makes sense of this parable, “The Lord did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket but simply because he exercised foresight for the future. If the servant in the parable is able to secure for himself earthly treasures, would you not also secure treasures for heaven? (Augustine, Sermon 359A, 10)” / Vulnerasti, 2023