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Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, people may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended the dishonest steward for acting prudently.”
- Luke 16:1-8
A difficult parable. Would Jesus’ original disciples have initially been inclined to dislike the rich man? The unjust steward? Both? Would they have been appalled at the steward’s scheme to cheat his master? Or would they have admired the steward’s shrewdness? What feelings might they have had about the debtors’ willingness to go along with the steward’s dishonest plan? Would they have wanted the master to punish the steward? Or were they glad that the debts were reduced, and the steward was commended? Were their initial judgments turned upside down?
The parable creates cognitive dissonance; it shakes up listeners by calling into question their notions of justice and moral behavior. Causing such discomfort was Jesus’ way of inviting people to wake up, to turn around, to be healed of their blindness so that they could see anew. Jesus challenged people to open their minds, to open their hearts, to allow new levels of consciousness to emerge.
Events in our lives, people we encounter, can call into question our notions of justice and morality, our understanding of God and of ourselves. Such events and people can be resented – or embraced as messengers, inviting us into an ever-deepening awareness of our own fallibility and of grace. Perhaps our response depends on how firmly we cling to our initial vision.
Meditations
“God gives us plenty of chances to let go of our vision, and more than that, often takes our vision and shatters it … Notice the emptying that takes place in being invited to let go of what is dearest to us. In the spiritual journey this could include our experience of God, which can be so rewarding that one would like to settle for that experience and not take further risks. It is essential to keep going … It is the willingness to allow one’s vision to be shattered … that is necessary and liberating … Giving up one’s vision is not the end of the journey, but the beginning.”
- Thomas Keating, Consenting to God as God Is
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“If you are searching for a clear and precise notion of who God is, you will not find God … if ever you do find a neat and clear definition, you may be sure that it is false. God is mystery … God, I once heard someone say, ‘is a beckoning word.’ God calls us out of ourselves and beyond ourselves … God changes the patterns of our thinking and therefore of acting, breaks open the cocoon of our minds and hearts and liberates us from the constrictions which our upbringing and present environment are imposing on us.”
- Gerard W. Hughes, God of Surprises
To Practice
- What is your emotional response to this parable? With whom do you identify – the rich man, the steward, the debtors? Do you consider the outcome just? Simple be with any emotions, cognitive dissonance or sensations you are experiencing. The Welcoming Prayer practice may be useful.
- Last week, we were offered a piece of poetry. How might it relate to today’s Gospel? Consider praying with the brief poem in the manner of Lectio Divina.
We miss the light, we lose ourselves in lies,
We never reach the heart of anything,
Unless we turn to meet God’s searching eyes,
Who meets us in the midst of everything.
- Malcolm Guite, Lost Son
- Post your reflections on the community forum here. Post prayer requests here. By clicking on the Subscribe link on the right-hand side of a thread, you can receive email notifications when someone posts a comment or a prayer request.
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