Fr. Patrick Santianez, sx
TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
“The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.”
Once one Filipino priest shared his experience when he was studying in Rome, Italy. He met one Filipino and was told: “Father, do you want to make a call to Manila free of charge?” The priest answered, “How is it possible? How to do it?” This Filipino answered him “Father, just use a public phone and use direct dial, don’t go to a call representative. Use direct dial. Call whoever you want to talk to, and even if you spend the whole day talking to that person, that call is free.” The priest asked for the umpteenth time “how is it possible?” The man answered, “Father, after you have talked to your people in the Philippines, don’t turn off the phone, let the other end of the line finish the call and immediately dial 01234456789. That call is free of charge.” The priest tried and it worked. And this man added, “Father, even if the system here in Italy is all computerized, still Filipinos are wise.”
In our daily life, we consider a driver to be “wise” when he is able to bring us to our destination, even if he breaks traffic rules. A student is considered “wise” when he able to put together his studies and his nights out, even if he copies and pastes from the internet his assignments. A husband is considered “wise” when he has two or three girl friends in different places. A citizen is considered “wise” when he uses another name to vote during the election.
In today’s parable, Jesus uses the example of a “wise manager” in his master’s business to teach us the need to be smart in the Lord’s service. We are challenged to imitate the manager’s shrewdness, not his dishonesty. What Jesus is praising in the parable is the proactive initiative of the manager, not his dishonesty because Jesus will never praise untruthfulness. If the “smart manager” makes use of his talents to save himself, we should learn from him how to use our talents in order to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Like the “smart manager” we should use our abilities to learn, to reflect and be more decisive in our actions, not for selfish gains, but for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. Like the “wise servant” we need to make friends, and our friends should be the last, the lost and least in our society.
We are wise only when we realize that we are only stewards, not owners in this world. Stewardship is the proper approach to the goods of creation, specially in relationship to our caring for our brothers and sisters, the poor in particular. The truth in stewardship is that we do not own anything. Even our life is only given on loan to us. We are just administrators. We do not own anything in this world. And we do not own the world. The sooner we accept this, the sooner we realize that life is not so much about getting and possessing, but about giving, not a matter of owning, but sharing.
TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
“The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.”
Once one Filipino priest shared his experience when he was studying in Rome, Italy. He met one Filipino and was told: “Father, do you want to make a call to Manila free of charge?” The priest answered, “How is it possible? How to do it?” This Filipino answered him “Father, just use a public phone and use direct dial, don’t go to a call representative. Use direct dial. Call whoever you want to talk to, and even if you spend the whole day talking to that person, that call is free.” The priest asked for the umpteenth time “how is it possible?” The man answered, “Father, after you have talked to your people in the Philippines, don’t turn off the phone, let the other end of the line finish the call and immediately dial 01234456789. That call is free of charge.” The priest tried and it worked. And this man added, “Father, even if the system here in Italy is all computerized, still Filipinos are wise.”
In our daily life, we consider a driver to be “wise” when he is able to bring us to our destination, even if he breaks traffic rules. A student is considered “wise” when he able to put together his studies and his nights out, even if he copies and pastes from the internet his assignments. A husband is considered “wise” when he has two or three girl friends in different places. A citizen is considered “wise” when he uses another name to vote during the election.
In today’s parable, Jesus uses the example of a “wise manager” in his master’s business to teach us the need to be smart in the Lord’s service. We are challenged to imitate the manager’s shrewdness, not his dishonesty. What Jesus is praising in the parable is the proactive initiative of the manager, not his dishonesty because Jesus will never praise untruthfulness. If the “smart manager” makes use of his talents to save himself, we should learn from him how to use our talents in order to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Like the “smart manager” we should use our abilities to learn, to reflect and be more decisive in our actions, not for selfish gains, but for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. Like the “wise servant” we need to make friends, and our friends should be the last, the lost and least in our society.
We are wise only when we realize that we are only stewards, not owners in this world. Stewardship is the proper approach to the goods of creation, specially in relationship to our caring for our brothers and sisters, the poor in particular. The truth in stewardship is that we do not own anything. Even our life is only given on loan to us. We are just administrators. We do not own anything in this world. And we do not own the world. The sooner we accept this, the sooner we realize that life is not so much about getting and possessing, but about giving, not a matter of owning, but sharing.