Faced with dismissal for mismanaging his master's resources, and without further options, truly with his back to the wall, the wily steward in today's Gospel concocts a strategy for survival that will actually further deplete his master's resources. And amazingly his master commends him. He so values this steward's resiliency and effective action that he praises him for acting shrewdly- literally in the original Greek of the text- "for being wise."
Jesus has told us that those who hear his words and put them into action are like wise people who build their houses on solid rock. Winds, rain, floods will not be able to make that house fall. Those who are wise survive the storms.
The "take-away" from today's Gospel story is clear. When the followers of Jesus realize that their spiritual life is threatened, they must act wisely and decisively in order to survive. The dishonest manager has been wiser in his deviousness, than we often are in our own inner lives. We must remember that we are "children of light" whose consciousness has been illumined by the Good News of Jesus. We must prioritize and make certain that everything in our lives conforms to the Gospel. We must choose rightly and so act lovingly, justly, wisely.
Photo by Brother Brian. Excerpts inspired by Father Aquinas' Sunday homily.
