Friday in the 31st Week of Ordinary Time, November 10, 2023

Luke 16, 1-8

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your ¿promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”

The parable featured in the Gospel Reading for today’s Mass follows the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and St. Luke seems to link the two by saying, “And he said also to his disciples” (the verse is altered in the Reading).  The obvious connection the two parables have is squandered property.  The younger son wastes the inheritance he received from his father, and the steward has squandered his rich master’s property.  Both men face a bleak future as a result of their vices but both find ways to gain protection from the fates they deserved.  The younger son returns to his father, and the steward gains the favor of his master’s debtors by slashing their debt.  Now, the younger son at least speaks honestly with his father and admits his guilt and intends to admit his unworthiness in exchange for a place among his father’s servants.  That is, his heart may not be in his words but still least he says the words.  The steward, however, acts in a very improper if not illegal fashion.  The Lord may be insinuating here that the younger son acted with the same mind as the steward, who really is not sorry for his actions or repents of them enough to forego cheating his master while he is supposed to be preparing his accounts.  If so, the lesson in the case of the younger son is that God so desires to lavish his mercy on the sinner that he will take even the slightest hint of repentance as an opportunity for doing so.  

The lesson in the case of the steward comes when the Lord points out at the end of the parable: “The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”  The “children of light” are those who have been enlightened by faith in the Lord Jesus.  We might finish the sentence that Luke reports the Lord as speaking: “The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light” with their own generation.  That is, the faithful should deal with one another in such a way as to advance their progress towards heaven.  They do this by asking for prayers and by assisting others with prayers, counsel, and deeds.  We help our fellow faithful and ourselves by pursuing virtue and giving a good example.  We assist one another and benefit ourselves through joining in the public worship of God.  We forgive one another’s sins.  We engage in profitable conversations and warn each other away from possible dangers.  We are proactive in doing good, just as the steward was proactive in taking care of himself before he was fired.

If the rich master could praise the dishonest steward for his dishonest practices, how much the Lord will praise us for our honest and virtuous practices at the great judgment: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in, etc.” (Matthew 25, 34-35).