Thursday 5 November 2015

Friday, November 6, 2015 - If you were told that you have only one more day before the Lord called you to himself, what three decisions would you make?

To read the texts click on the texts: Rom 15:14-21; Lk 16:1-8

The text of today contains a parable found only in the Gospel of Luke and which is often titled as the Parable of the Dishonest Steward. 

In the Parable, the steward is about to be dismissed because of charges against him of squandering his master’s property. Since he does not want to have to do manual labour or beg after his dismissal, he responds to the crisis in his life by taking the decision of reducing the debtor’s debts. The amounts mentioned are all large, and indicates commercial rather than household transactions. By the reduction of the debts, he gains the favour of his master’s debtors, which will stand him in good stead in the future. 

It is not clear whether the steward acted dishonestly through this action, because some presume that he was foregoing his own commission or acting righteously by excluding the interest prohibited by Deut 23,19-20. Despite this, however, most prefer the interpretation that the steward continued to be dishonest and arbitrarily reduced the amounts of the debts. By doing this, the steward casts an aura of goodness on his master and also provides for his own future. 

The point of the parable of the parable is not so much honesty or dishonesty, but a call to cast caution aside, seize the opportunity and make provisions for the future before God. The kingdom is here.

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Despite you explaining the honesty vs dishonesty of the steward, Fr. Errol, I am still perplexed. I am one of the “most” you mention, who chooses to interpret the steward’s actions as dishonest because:

    i. The steward makes those decisions to secure his own future with nary a thought of how those losses will affect his master's livelihood/future.

    ii. He does not consult his master prior to his reducing the amounts due by the debtors.

    But I am aware that I do not always understand God’s ways, and instead of arguing my point endlessly (like I used to earlier!), I’ve chosen instead to focus on these important lines of yours:

    >but a call to cast caution aside, seize the opportunity and make provisions for the future before God. The kingdom is here.
    - Right. Fastening my bootstraps to attempt traversing the straight and narrow. Sigh.

    Kate

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. in My homily at Mass I said READY-FIRE-AIM. Let me know if it makes sense to you. God be with you and Mary always intercedes.

      Delete
    2. in My homily at Mass I said READY-FIRE-AIM. Let me know if it makes sense to you. God be with you and Mary always intercedes.

      Delete
  3. >in My homily at Mass I said READY-FIRE-AIM. Let me know if it makes sense to you.
    - Oh, complete sense. It’s what I do! Ready to pull the trigger, um, I usually actually *do* fire, and then .... check to see if I was aiming at the target.

    Is this impulsive and rash (re)action what you are referring to with your READY-AIM-FIRE, Fr. Errol?

    Kate

    ReplyDelete

You may use the "Anonymous" option to leave a comment if you do not possess a Google Account. But please leave your name and URL as www.errolsj.com