Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Lk 16:1-13
September 18, 2022 | Sunday

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. And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that, when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes.

Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have been dishonest in handling filthy money, who would entrust you with true wealth? And if you have been dishonest with things that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly your own?

No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money.”

Today’s Reflection:

In the Gospel Reading, Jesus tells us the Parable of the Unjust Steward. The steward in this story squanders his master’s property and defrauds or swindles his master, but still the latter praises him for acting shrewdly (v. 8a) and Jesus exhorts his disciples—and us—to learn from his shrewdness (v. 8b). Which begs the questions: In what sense has the steward acted shrewdly in the parable?

It must first be noted that this steward is in a crisis situation. His master decides to terminate him as the manager of his estate because he has been found to have squandered his master’s property. Meanwhile, he is required to make an account of his management. How he deals with this critical situation shows his shrewdness or practical wisdom. Three points are noteworthy.

Firstly, the steward immediately identifies a threat and an opportunity in his predicament. The threat is the prospect that he gets bankrupt and be forced to beg for survival (v. 3). The opportunity lies in the limited time during which he is to make an account of his management (v. 2).

Secondly, he creates a sort of strategic plan in managing the threat and making the most of the opportunity. He first identifies what cannot be done and what he is not willing to do: “I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg” (v. 3). Next, he focuses on what can be done: “I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes” (v. 4). Pretty sure, the steward knows how to secure his future. He is to reduce significantly the bills of those who are indebted to his master. In the culture of honor-and-shame characterized by reciprocity (debt of gratitude), he is assured that those whose debts he shall have reduced are obliged to reciprocate him.

Lastly, deeply aware of his limited time allowance, he quickly but carefully executes his strategic plan. He summons his master’s debtors one by one, asks them how much they owe his master, and gives them large reductions. One who owes 100 measures of oil (about 1000 gallons) gets 50% discount. The other who owes 100 containers of wheat gets 20% off. Striking here is his instruction that they must write their corresponding bills quickly. With such large reductions, they could not help but falsify their bills as quickly as possible. So large are the amounts reduced that they willingly collaborate in his evil schemes without a second thought. By reducing the debts, the steward has indebted a number of his master’s clients who are all bound to reciprocate him. He is well assured of a comfortable future after he gets definitively fired.

What then can we learn from the steward’s shrewdness? It must be made clear that Jesus does not praise the steward’s dishonesty. What he commends is his prudence or shrewdness from which we can draw inspiration especially in the face of a crisis situation. In varying degrees and in different situations, all of us face problems or crises which can break us if not prudently handled.

When we find ourselves in a crisis situation, we should bear in mind that there are always threats and opportunities in every crisis. We have to identify these first and foremost. Then we plan our strategies on how to manage the threats and to make the most of the opportunities. Once we shall have determined our strategic course of actions, we should execute them in a calculating manner. We should remember that almost all of our crisis situations can be turned into golden opportunities if shrewdly handled. /Vulnerasti, 2022