TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
18 SEPTEMBER 2016
The
steward in today’s parable receives a wakeup call. His master calls him in and fires him for
squandering his money. Much as the
prodigal son had decided to return home after squandering his father’s
possessions, the steward goes to his master’s debtors and reduces the amount each
one had owed. While the father had
embraced his younger son and welcomed him home, the master commends the
dishonest steward for acting prudently.
In this
strangest of parables, Jesus is not encouraging us to cheat in our business
dealings. Instead, the parable is about
relationships. The steward has
established good relations with his master’s debtors. The master knows that he will be regarded
more favorably by those who owe him money.
Relationships are far more important than possessions.
Today’s
Scripture readings are a wakeup call for all disciples of Jesus Christ. The Lord challenges us to put him first and
to use our possessions as means in our journey to the New and Eternal Jerusalem,
and not as ends in themselves. The
prophet Amos reminds us that treating possessions as ends in themselves can
make us greedy, ignoring the needs of the poor and exploiting them to increase
our wealth at any cost.
We hear
these words on the Sunday when we are invited to renew our commitment to the
stewardship of sacrificial giving. We
have renewed our stewardship of prayer during Lent and service during the
Easter Season. The stewardship of
sacrificial giving invites us to be good stewards of the possessions that are
ultimately gifts from God. Instead of
regarding them as ends in themselves, we share a first and generous portion of
them to form relationships with this parish community. Over the past few years, our parish has taken
steps in faith to set aside 8 ½ % of our income to maintain a relationship with
our sister parish of Saint Adalbert and with those who ask for financial
help. Read the materials in the packet
available in the back of church. Pray
over your decision, and consider the possibility of using online giving as a
tool. I’ve been using that method for a couple
of years and find it very helpful. You would expect me to say this. That is why we have asked Jared and Jenny
Dees to tell their story of how they have come to include this third component
of stewardship as a way of life.
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