A WAKE-UP CALL

 

A WAKE-UP CALL 

 

I wonder who is not confused and shocked by today’s Gospel. It is a story about  rascals: the landowner should have put his dishonest manager in jail, but praises  him. The manager is a cheater, and the debtors only too eagerly cooperate in  the cheating. How can Jesus praise this dishonest manager and put rascals as  models before us? He is not afraid of telling stories with rascals as heroes. After  all, His Father was not afraid to dirty His hands by creating man from soil, and  Jesus was not afraid to dirty His hands with our sinful humanity. The Gospels  are not soap operas but down-to-earth Good News for sinners.

 

Let us be clear: Jesus did not approve of the dishonesty. He praises the  aptitude of taking a quick decision at a time of crisis. With this, He tells us:  “When you have to face the ultimate crisis, that of ensuring your eternal future  before God, the only smart thing to do is to act daringly and cleverly.” And  so He puts this dishonest but clever manager before us, His disciples, to learn  from Him to be clear about our goals in life and use our intelligence and energy  to achieve this.  

 

Unfortunately, we often lack the desire, the determination, and the energy  to achieve these goals. It is sad, but we Christians are usually not that clever,  eager, and efficient in bringing about the values of the Kingdom. Evil people  often rule the world because good people do not take the lead or lack the  initiative. We often live as if there would be no final reckoning before God.  And so the parable reminds us that, at the end of our lives, we have to give an  account to the Lord for the graces we received from Him. Will we also rush  to straighten out some crooked business? I am afraid most of us have to. But  again, the parable gives us hope. How? The manager gambled on his master’s  generosity and won. With this, Jesus tells us: “When you face the crisis of God’s  judgment, the clever thing to do is to bank on His generosity. By staking your  whole eternal future on His mercy, you are sure to win.” Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTION 

Are you eager and ready to secure your eternal future?  

 

Lord, thank You for waking me up from my slumber. I have taken my faith and my relationship  with You for granted. I’m sorry. Please strengthen me for this task. Amen. 

 

Today, I pray for: __________________________________________________________