Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 16 1-13
Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’
Be administrators!
1) Waste. The gospel begins by showing us a man who had squandered his master’s property. You and I are administrators of life, we are not the owners. At some point, we will leave this world and the question we will be asked will be: what did you do? Today, you must remember that life is short, and you must live it and enjoy it, but not waste it. You have to be respectful of life and of the life of others.
2) Ability to choose. Not everything in life is black or white. We have the ability to choose. And when you administer your life, you must be aware that you are going to make mistakes. I make mistakes and I make a lot of them, don’t you? Life is a constant learning process but look for wisdom and prudence to help you through and do not be arrogant, because this leads you to miss out on your own life.
3) Masters. Do not let the pursuit of money lead you to lose your life and the aim of your life, which is happiness. But happiness is not a ‘state of emotion’, it is not that I am happy because I am joyful. Happiness is a ‘state of consciousness’, it implies being happy here and now, with what I have and with what I am. Who is rich? Not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Never forget that Heaven is our goal.
