and when you are ready read the Gospel

… a familiar story, and when we encounter a familiar story we can be inclined to hear the version we know rather than actually hearing the story. Try to listen to it as if for the first time, hearing something new in it…

….. the 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.’

Reflect on the Gospel

Sit quietly now for a few moments and allow the images created by hearing the Gospel to emerge.

Use some quietening music again if you wish.

Ask yourself, how is this Gospel speaking to my situation in my life in this moment.

A challenging Gospel in the sense it appears to be praising the ‘dishonest’ servant. It certainly invites us into asking what is important in our lives. One would assume that the servant has been lining his own pockets but now realises that it won’t be enough when he is thrown out of his employment. He sees that that relationship and community is important.

Here is a commentary by José A Pagola offering a view of the rationale of this passage.

The society in which Jesus lived was very different from ours. The only families able to accumulate gold and silver were the powerful landowners. Jesus calls it tainted money. The wealth of those powerful people is unjust because it has been
amassed unjustly. Moreover, they enjoy it without sharing it with the poor and hungry.
In effect Jesus says to the rich: “Use your unjust money to help the poor; win their friendship by sharing with them your goods. They will be your friends. At the hour of death, money will no longer be of use to you. Then they will welcome you into the house of the Father.”
When the Pharisees heard all this they sneered at Jesus, because they loved money. They considered wealth a sign of God’s blessing on their lives.
Although a long biblical tradition reinforces this view of wealth as a blessing, it is not true of the gospel of Jesus. Let us say this loud and clearly, because there are rich people who think, almost as a matter of course, that economic success and prosperity are clear evidence of God’s favour. The thrust is that a follower of Jesus may not just do anything he/she pleases with money. Making money, spending and enjoying it is unjust if it forgets the poorest.

JOSÉ A PAGOLA – Following in the Footsteps of Jesus, Year C

Does this support your reflection on the Gospel passage or not? If so in what way and if not why not? Sit with that and ask what is this Gospel calling you to be or to change this week?