Saturday in the 31st Week of Ordinary Time, November 5, 2022

Luke 16, 9-15

Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”  The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”

The first verse of the Gospel Reading for today’s Mass belongs to the parable used in yesterday’s Gospel Reading.  It is difficult to understand what the makers of the current lectionary had in mind when they divided these readings in this way.  The second verse has the Lord speaking on a different subject.

“The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”. The reading actually begins with this verse.  The subject on which the Lord is speaking here is that of personal integrity.  We can determine the level of our own integrity by making an honest assessment of our performance in small matters.  We should consider whether our understanding is capable of grasping the job at hand and the steps necessary to complete it; whether we begin when we are supposed to; whether we use the resources allotted us responsibly; and whether we end the job when we are supposed to.  If we are customarily late to begin in small matters, we are almost certainly late to begin in larger matters.  Likewise, if we are dishonest in small matters.  We can use this criteria to ascertain whether another person can be relied on as well.  

“If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?”  If we cannot be trusted with the right use of material wealth or goods, we probably are not to be trusted with spiritual goods.  If the wealth is ours we need to be careful so that we use it moderately and for necessities more than for luxuries so that we have savings for when times go bad.  If the wealth is another’s, then we have to take extra care not to lose it or waste it.  Proper care with material wealth Carrie’s over to the care of what is most important — our souls.  Extravagance with material wealth would carry over to self-indulgence which damages our spiritual health.  “If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?”  This pertains to forgiveness:  if we do not take the care necessary to forgive another’s sin against us, why should we expect forgiveness for a sin of our own?

“No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”  This should read, “No slave, etc.” A slave could be owned by only one master at a time, and was on duty for him continuously.  It would be disastrous if he somehow tried to serve another master as well.  In the same way, we cannot pursue goals at odds with our service of God.  Every activity we undertake must in some way serve Almighty God.  

“You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”  Speaking to the Pharisees, the Lord also warns us about justifying our conduct lest it scandalize other members of the faithful or even unbelievers.  If we feel the need to justify something we have done or said, we probably should not have done or said it.  Our thought should rather be, Does this serve the Lord?