Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s gospel account from Luke is considered to be among the most difficult of all scriptural texts to understand. Even as great a biblical authority as St. Augustine remarked: “I can’t believe this story came from the lips of our Lord.”
What all the fuss is about is hinted at in the title given this story: The Parable of the Dishonest Steward. It’s the tale of an estate manager skilled in the art of crooked business dealings. He was so duplicitous that when he was fired for blatant criminal activity, he shrewdly found a way of protecting his future. His former employer seemingly shook his head in disbelief at how cunning he was.
He even gets praise from Jesus!
At first glance, it’s baffling. Why would Jesus recommend the strategies of a crooked schemer? Because despite all his dishonesty, the man represents someone who is smart enough to ensure that his interests – however unscrupulous – will be protected in the future.
This is why Jesus tells this story. He’s urging us to do the same. He’s telling us to act as shrewdly and with the same determination to ensure our future. He’s insisting that we should be as intensely concerned about what makes for our ultimate fulfillment as this con man was about his.
The whole point of the parable is to again remind us about what really matters, what truly counts in the long run: Experiencing the divine love that will transform us. This is our true future. To obtain that goal, we are being challenged by this unique gospel story to order our lives accordingly.
Today is also celebrated throughout America as Catechetical Sunday. It’s a time set aside to publicly thank all the catechists and teachers who devote their lives to handing on to our youth and adults the precious gift of faith. It’s likewise a day to remind us about the importance of learning what the essentials of our faith really are. Such teaching, of course, begins in the home with our parents and grandparents. They are our first teachers through word and action. They are also the first to pass on values that can be permanently implanted in the hearts of their children.
We have been blessed in America with a church that has strongly emphasized the importance of teaching and catechizing. Through the years, an invaluable school system has reached out to millions of families in an all-out effort to pass on the principles and values contained in the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
It’s in effect been a remarkably successful venture in following the directive of Jesus in today’s story of the Dishonest Steward: Prepare for the future; put all your energy and your talents into assuring that your life direction is one fully committed to the reality of God and His reign.
Our bishops are recommending that one of the best ways we can continue to do all of this is to remind us again and again of the need to make prayer central in our lives. They ask that all of us – especially our catechists and Catholic school teachers – devote ourselves to a deeper study of and practice of prayer.
St. Therese of Lisieux said that “prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look toward heaven; it is a cry of recognition of love.”
St. Francis de Sales assures us that “every one of us needs half an hour of prayer each day, except when we are busy – then we need an hour.”
The dishonest steward used his wits to get what he wanted.
We get to use prayer.
