The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge our choices to serve ourselves and defer our mission to live in oneness with Creation.
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| Spiritual and material wealth |
The passage from the Prophet Amos presents the dishonest attempts to cheat the poor.
Never will I forget a thing they have done! (Amos 8:7)1
In Psalm 113, God is praised as the helper of the needy.
* [Psalm 113] A hymn exhorting the congregation to praise God’s name, i.e., the way in which God is present in the world; the name is mentioned three times in Ps 113:1–3. The divine name is especially honored in the Temple (Ps 113:1) but its recognition is not limited by time (Ps 113:2) and space (Ps 113:3), for God is everywhere active (Ps 113:4–5) especially in rescuing the lowly faithful (Ps 113:7–9).2
The reading from the First Letter to Timothy offers instructions concerning prayer and conduct.
* [2:1–7] This marked insistence that the liturgical prayer of the community concern itself with the needs of all, whether Christian or not, and especially of those in authority, may imply that a disposition existed at Ephesus to refuse prayer for pagans. In actuality, such prayer aids the community to achieve peaceful relationships with non-Christians (1 Tm 2:2) and contributes to salvation, since it derives its value from the presence within the community of Christ, who is the one and only savior of all (1 Tm 2:3–6). The vital apostolic mission to the Gentiles (1 Tm 2:7) reflects Christ’s purpose of universal salvation. 1 Tm 2:5 contains what may well have been a very primitive creed. Some interpreters have called it a Christian version of the Jewish shema: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD alone…” (Dt 6:4–5). The assertion in 1 Tm 2:7, “I am speaking the truth, I am not lying,” reminds one of similar affirmations in Rom 9:1; 2 Cor 11:31; and Gal 1:20.3
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in contrast to the mercy of the Parable of the Prodigal Son that precedes it.
* [16:9] Dishonest wealth: literally, “mammon of iniquity.” Mammon is the Greek transliteration of a Hebrew or Aramaic word that is usually explained as meaning “that in which one trusts.” The characterization of this wealth as dishonest expresses a tendency of wealth to lead one to dishonesty. Eternal dwellings: or, “eternal tents,” i.e., heaven.4
Tom Quinn comments that this is an example of behavior that is considered to be good practice by those who are not “Children of the Light,” i.e., not yet his followers. The steward did the best that he could while in the service of money and those who control it. Jesus warns us that we cannot serve two masters.
While our allegiance is divided between what pleases God, and what will merely increase our personal wealth, or social standing, we are not “in the light”. We are constantly being measured, and we measure others by what riches and property they do or do not have. It is clear from Jesus’ words that we should try to recognize by our actions, words, and thoughts, the goodness of God in each person. Discern the spirit of God in our hearts.5
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus recommends the foresight, prudence, and ingenuity of the steward,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Why did the Lord Jesus Christ present this parable to us? He surely did not approve of that cheat of a servant who cheated his master, stole from him and did not make it up from his own pocket. On top of that, he also did some extra pilfering. He caused his master further loss, in order to prepare a little nest of quiet and security for himself after he lost his job. Why did the Lord set this before us? It is not because that servant cheated but because he exercised foresight for the future. When even a cheat is praised for his ingenuity, Christians who make no such provision blush. I mean, this is what he added, 'Behold, the children of this age are more prudent than the children of light.' They perpetrate frauds in order to secure their future. In what life, after all, did that steward insure himself like that? What one was he going to quit when he bowed to his master's decision? He was insuring himself for a life that was going to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?" (excerpt from 359A.10.)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 16:1-13 notes that in his conclusion to the parable, Jesus says that his followers seem to be unable to match even the so-called “mercy” of this dishonest steward.
“The children of this world,” he says, “are more prudent . . . than are the children of light” (Luke 16:8). The steward was indeed prudent in his forgiveness of the debts. But Jesus is looking for something beyond prudence and shrewdness—and he wants to see it come from us. He is looking for true mercy—extravagant mercy that forgives with no strings attached7.
Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the crimes against the poor described by Amos. Jesus is not proposing dishonesty but encouraging cleverness. We don’t know how to survive with spiritual wealth. We need to choose between God and physical possessions. Friar Jude reminds that in the time of Timothy persecution led by Nero in Rome one God is countered by remembering One God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on the death of his long time canine companion, Venus commenting that in the weeks before she died, Venus somehow communicated to me that all sadness, whether cosmic, human, or canine, is one and the same. Somehow, her eyes were all eyes, even God’s eyes, and the sadness she expressed was a divine and universal sadness.
When we carry our small suffering in solidarity with humanity’s one universal longing for deep union, it helps keep us from self-pity or self-preoccupation. We know that we are all in this together. It is just as hard for everybody else, and our healing is bound up in each other’s. Almost all people are carrying a great and secret hurt, even when they don’t know it. This realization softens the space around our overly defended hearts. It makes it hard to be cruel to anyone. It somehow makes us one—in a way that easy comfort and entertainment never can.
Some mystics go so far as to say that individual suffering doesn’t exist at all and that there is only one suffering. It is all the same, and it is all the suffering of God. The image of Jesus on the cross somehow communicates that to the willing soul. A Crucified God is the dramatic symbol of the one suffering that God fully enters into with us—much more than just for us, as many Christians were trained to think.8
The One God is Creator and calls us to love all Creation as top priority of all the tasks of life.
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