Jesus tells the parable of the steward accused before his master (in Luke's Greek he is called "kurios", lord, the same name given to God) of squandering his goods. In the end, however, the master himself praises his steward for having distributed his goods among the debtors, squandering them
likewise. The point of the steward's conversion is the master's call to account for his stewardship, for it will be taken from him. The parable of the foolish rich man who hoarded his harvest in the barns, but would lose his life that very night, comes to mind. There is in the steward's action a remarkable haste: "Sit down, write, change the amount of your debt." He is praised by his master, who is not interested in the accumulation of goods, but in their use for good, to alleviate pain and suffering. Before, that steward neglected those goods, or used them for himself, for amusement, for speculation, for selfishness. After his dismissal was announced to him, although driven by the desire to make friends who would then welcome him, he guessed the heart of his master: he wanted his goods to be destined to do good to all.
This is what God wants for the material and spiritual goods created by him and left to men as stewards. It is what he wants for the goods left as an inheritance to his Church: the treasure of his Word, the power of the sacraments, the grace of salvation, the truth that sets us free, the new commandment of love. May these goods not be confiscated and put in the coffers: they serve for the salvation of all, for God wants "all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," Paul explains to Timothy, and so he wants us to pray for everyone, even for the emperor who puts Christians to death, or for those who enrich themselves dishonestly.
"Make friends with dishonest riches, so that when they fail, they may receive you into the eternal habitations." Dishonest because they have been accumulated by fraud, like that of the recipients of the invective of the prophet Amos, who trample on the poor and do not endure the repose of the new moon and the Sabbath, because it curbs their greed to earn money dishonestly, by false measures, by selling the leftovers, by buying a slave for a pair of sandals. Or dishonest because they deceive men, because they promise happiness they will never give. But if they are used to help, to succor, these riches create friendship and gratitude in all the poor and disinherited of all kinds, who in life will be close to us and at the moment of our death will bear witness that we have given them money, attention, time, science, life, love.
Homily on the readings of the 25th Sunday of the year
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
