25^th  Sunday in Ordinary Time (C); September 18, 2022

Am 8:4-7.  Ps 113.  1 Tm 2:1-8.  Lk 16:1-13

Deacon Jim McFadden

       The parable in this Sunday’s Gospel passage (Lk 16:1-13) involves a shrewd, albeit dishonest steward who, charged with wasting his master’s goods, is about to be fired.  He’s prepared to do anything to keep himself alive, short of doing manual labor and begging.  The manager’s panic of his inability to do manual labor or beg puts his mind into high gear to come up with a different plan in order to insure himself a stable future.  He acts shrewdly, but he ends up robbing his master a second time—I guess we could say that the guy is consistent in looking out for Number One.  So, he calls the debtors and reduces the debts they owe to the master, in order to make them friends and to repaid by them later.  He’s created a safety net for himself and the master will get a partial remittance.  But, he does so through a corruptive practice and he obtains gratitude through corruption.  The guy is reducing relationships into transaction, which sadly is a common practice today.

            Now, what is perplexing is that Jesus is holding up the dishonest steward as someone to emulate, not for his dishonesty,  but his prudence.  That is, the man is combining intelligence with cunning, which enables him to overcome a difficult situation.  If the parable ended at this juncture, we may see the point that Jesus is making, but it would still be hard to cozy up to this guy, who is very conniving and manipulative.  But, the hinge to reading this narrative lies in what Jesus says at the end of the parable: “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitation” (v. 9). 

            What does all of this mean as, at first blush, it seems to be confusing, but if we unpack it from Jesus’ perspective, it resonates with Gospel values.  .  The “unrighteous mammon” refers to wealth or money, which in medieval literature was often referred to as ‘devil’s dung.’ 

            The pursuit of wealth can be very problematic as it can propel one to build walls.  To protect our wealth, walls can create division and discrimination as we strive to keep people out of our insular tribe.  Jesus, on the other hand, seems to be encouraging his friends to reverse course.  We hear, “Make friends by yourselves by means of mammon.”  It is an invitation to know how to change goods and wealth into relationships, because people, especially the poor, are worth more than things, and count more than the wealth that we possess. 

            I think that this parable may be the basis of the Catholic Church’s Tradition of the Common Good, which represents the sum total of all relationships that promote the dignity, unity, and equality of all people (cf. Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 1046).  One of the implications of this foundational truth is the principle of the universal destination of goods.  The conciliar fathers of Vatican II boldly proclaimed that “all created things should be shared fairly by all mankind under the guidance of justice tempered by charity” (ibid., 1090).  Wow, do you think we’d ever see this doctrine included in either the platform of either our political parties? 

            What this teaching entails is that it’s not those who have a lot of wealth who bear fruit, but those who create the many bonds, many relationships, many friendships by using “mammon” for God’s purposes: namely, to promote the common good.  You see, everything we are and everything we have comes from God; wealth is just one thing that has been given to us.  So, Jesus points to the ultimate aim of his exhortation: “Make friends for yourselves by means of mammon so that they may receive you into eternal habitations.” 

            In other words, if we are able to transform wealth into tools of building fraternity and solidarity, not only will God  be there to welcome us in heaven, but also those with whom we’ve shared our goods and wealth—properly exercising stewardship  what the Lord has placed in our hands.

            The premier good that God has entrusted to us is Life itself.  Stewardship of Life means that we protect and preserve Life at all stages from conception to natural death. This November we will have the opportunity to affirm that Life begins at conception, which is confirmed by science, technology along with our Tradition.  The first measure on the ballot will expand abortion to the third tri-semester, which will become part of our State Constitution, which means tax payer monies will fund abortions.  The measure does nothing to provide maternal aid for women or children.  So, please give careful consideration as you go to the polls in November.

            People of God, this Gospel passage makes the question of the dishonest steward dismissed by his master, resonate with us.  His question is ours as well:

“What shall I do now?”   That’s the question posed for us in November.   In facing our shortcomings, failures, and sin, Jesus assures us that right here and right now we can put things in right order by using the goods and wealth given to us to promote the common good, which entails the universal destination of goods, which includes Life itself.   In other words, the goods and wealth that we have do not absolutely belong to us, but must be used according to God’s purposes, which means they are to be used prudently and shared with our brothers and sisters, especially those in most need.  If we do so, then we will have acted with “prudence,” that is, we have recognized that we are all children of God, who are being called to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Amen.