In the Parable of the Dishonest Steward, the steward who is on the block to lose his job for squandering his lord’s property comes up with a plan to settle his lord’s accounts. He lessened the amount owed with the intent to gain some support from those who had debts to pay to his master. Most likely he was giving up his own profits in settling the debts of those who owed his lord, much like a real estate agent or car salesman today would forego their commission to make a sale. He loses in the short term, but hoped to restore some honor or at least understanding with those debtors who were receiving a better result on paying back a smaller amount of what they owed.
The prudence or cleverness of the steward is commended by the lord because the dishonest steward had utilized foresight, which was a better quality to develop than the squandering of his lord’s property in the opening of the parable.
Jesus also acknowledged those who were clever in worldly ways, thinking and acting with prudence – what we recognize today as the first of the four cardinal virtues, being shrewd and having foresight to navigate potential conflicts to acquire the desired goal. Jesus then shared the insight that we as “children of the light” ought to act with prudence as well. The difference being, the application is not for personal gain, but applying cleverness in evangelization, spreading the Gospel, and making disciples.
Many in the Church have gone before us seeing the needs in their midst and coming up with creative ways to solve them. Often times, utilizing the model of the steward’s prudence of foregoing material, immediate gain to provide for the needs of others. St Francis of Assisi, lived his youth, not as a faithful steward, but as a pampered troubadour, part of a social elite, but then as his transformation began to take hold, he began to sell off his father’s cloth and gave to the poor. He would ultimately renounce his family name as well as all material possessions, and give all to follow Jesus. St Mother Teresa, left her home at eighteen, never to see her family again to become a missionary in India with the Loretto Sisters. She became a school teacher in in Calcutta, by no means squandering what the Lord gave her, but she too was called to go deeper. She left the convent to serve the poorest of the poor in the streets, those in the most deplorable conditions.
Jesus has a unique call for each of us. We too are called to be faithful stewards, to be holy, and to be saints. What need to we see in our midst? In what way can we be more prudent? Each of us are invited into a deeper embrace of the Gospel. “We experience faith and encounter God in our own particular time in history, and faith lights up our journey through time. Faith must be passed on in every age” (Pope Francis, 20). Jesus deepen our faith and help us to pass it on in the unique way you call us too.
Photo: Statue of St. Francis in our rosary garden at St Peter Catholic Church in Jupiter, FL.
Walking With Pope Francis: Thirty Days with the Encyclical The Light of Faith. New London, CT., Twenty Third Publications, 2013.
Link for today’s Mass readings:
Spiritual Stepping Stones 