A middle-aged man was shopping at the supermarket. He noticed a little old lady watching him and following him around the store. If he stopped, she stopped. If he moved, she moved. But he said nothing.
As he headed to the checkout, she managed to get ahead of him in the line. She turned to him and said, “I hope I haven’t made you feel ill at ease. I’m sorry, but you look so much like my son, who died two weeks ago.”
“I’m sorry about your son,” he answered, “And no, you didn’t make me uncomfortable.”
“I know this will sound silly to you, but would you mind calling out ‘Goodbye Mom’ as I leave the store? It would make me feel so happy and remind me of my son.”
She checked out her groceries and as she was on her way out of the store, the man called out, “Goodbye Mom.” The little old lady smiled and waved goodbye. It made him feel good inside.
He checked out his half gallon of milk, bananas and bread. “That will be $121.54,” said the clerk.
“That can’t be right. I only have these three items,” he said in disbelief.
“That is true,” she replied. But your mother, whom you just waved goodbye to, said you would be paying for her groceries too.”
That little old lady was very shrewd and probably a bit of a scam artist, just like the steward or manager in Jesus’ parable. In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us a parable about a manager who was squandering his owner’s property. We are not told what kind of squandering, but squandering means wasteful. Nor are we told what kind of property it was. It could have been money, or crops or something else.
There is no doubt about it, the chief steward or manager was very shrewd. Let’s call him “Mike Manager.”
When the owner of the property, whom we will call Oliver Owner, found out that Mike Manager was squandering his property, Oliver Owner decided to terminate Mike.
Mike Manager admits to himself that he can’t do manual labor and is too proud to beg, so he comes up with a brilliant idea. He goes to the people who owe Oliver Owner money. Mike tells them he will lessen their debt. What is clever is that Mike doesn’t decrease what is owed to Oliver Owner, but he does reduce his own commission.
The people who owe money to Oliver Owner will pay the same to him, but will pay less money to Mike, as Mike lowered his commission.
When Oliver Owner hears what Mike Manager did, Oliver praises Mike for his cleverness. There is no dishonesty, but there is resourcefulness.
Being clever doesn’t necessarily mean dishonest.
For example, two boys found a purse. They looked through it and found a driver’s license and a hundred-dollar bill. “It is not right to keep the purse and money. But before we return it, let’s change the hundred-dollar bill into four twenty-dollar bills, two fivers and ten ones.”
These shrewd young boys were not dishonest, but they were obviously looking out for themselves in the hope of a reward.
Similarly, Mike Manager, who was about to be fired, was looking out for himself and trying to make friends with people who owed money to both Oliver and Mike.
In today’s Gospel from Luke, Jesus cautions his disciples, and he cautions us, against allowing money to become our master. “No person can serve two masters.” We are to use money in a responsible way and not let it take over our lives. We are to use our possessions as a means for serving God.
Greed can get the upper hand in influencing our lifestyle, even becoming a driving force in our lives. Greed can become like an invisible virus that sneaks into our lives. Greed is precisely the dangerous attitude that Jesus warns us about: “No person can serve two masters.”
The opposite of greed is generosity. As your pastor, I would like to express my gratitude for the support that you all provide and the gifts that you share. You have consistently shown your generosity with loving and giving hearts. I am ever grateful for your being open to God’s call to sacrifice yourself by supporting the ongoing ministries of our beloved parish.
In closing, I have some good news and bad news:
The good news is our parish is growing in numbers and ministries.
The bad news is that it is costing us more and more each year.
The good news is that we have the money.
The bad news is the money in your pocket, and we need some of it.
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