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As I try to preach the Word of God in my own ministry, I’m beginning to appreciate, more and more, the wisdom found in the first readings especially from the prophets of old. As social justice issues arise in our own time, I realize social justice issues were front and center for the Biblical prophets as well. The prophet Amos, whom we heard from in that first reading, protested the wealthy class, the business class, who were notorious for cheating the poor. They swindled tax money out of the poor by tampering with false weights and measures. Amos called these cheats out for worshiping money and ignoring God. They trampled the needy, Amos tells us. They said, “When will the new moon be over?” In other words, “When will the Sabbath be over, so that we can resume ripping people off by selling them over-priced grain?” These people would pay lip service to God on the Sabbath, but the moment the Sabbath was over, they would go back to exploiting the poor. The question on the floor is: do we integrate our Sunday faith into the rest of the week? Do we allow our faith to shape our relationship with people and with God 24/7?

Amos, in that first reading, railed against the exploitation of the poor. Yet, the gospel story of the unjust, cheating steward seems to condone this. Who do we take our direction from—the prophet Amos or Jesus? Let’s look at the parable that Jesus spoke 2000 years ago and see how we can apply it to our own place and time. 

It starts off with a rich man who had a manager. This manager oversees the rich man’s property. He is a steward of the rich man’s assets. This job requires honesty and integrity as the manager represents the rich man in the eyes of all other people. Unfortunately for the rich man, his manager is not a man of integrity. In fact, the manager has been caught “cooking the books,” squandering the rich man’s property. From what I can tell, the manager is charging customers, that is those in debt to the rich man, exorbitant commissions. He is charging way more than is reasonable. Today, we would say, “charge the public whatever they are willing to pay, and don’t feel one bit of guilt over it. At a sporting event, charge $16 for a beer and $12 for a hotdog, and don’t let your conscience tell you otherwise. Price people out of their houses and apartments and don’t let prophets like Jesus or Amos tell you otherwise. 

Getting back to the parable. The rich man finds out his manager is ripping off his clients. The rich man’s reputation is now tarnish as people falsely think the rich man is greedy. In fact, it’s the manager who is greedy. On the verge of being fired, the manager thinks to himself, “What will I do without this job? I am not strong enough to dig and I am too ashamed to beg?” (Well, if you’re that useless, then do as I did…become a priest. At least then you would get a BBQ out of the parishioners!). 

In his mind, this dishonest manager comes up with three strategies that everyone of us has tried at one time or another. His first strategy is to blame someone else for his misfortunes. “My master is taking the position away from me?” No, he isn’t, you dummy. You lost your job because you were cheating people. Don’t blame your boss for being a cheat yourself. 

His second strategy is to evoke pity; it’s to play the victim card. “I am not strong enough to dig and too ashamed to beg.” To that I say, “You should have thought of that before you started ripping people off.”

His third strategy is the one that works. He forgives peoples’ debts in the hopes that his master will forgive his greed. He finds someone who owes his master 100 jugs of oil. He tells this person to pay back only 50. Why? Because the manager was charging 50 jugs of oil as his own personal commission, a ridiculous, selfish amount. The manager will not take his commission, but the master will get what is owed him. The manager meets up with another person who owes the master 100 containers of wheat. Again, the manager tells this person to pay back only 80. The manager will absorb the 20% commission. The master, once again, will get what is owed him. 

This third strategy of forgiving others’ debts now, in the hope of having his own debts forgiven later, works. The manager is praised by the master. Remember, he is not praised for his dishonesty; he is praised for his shrewdness. The manager knows how the game work. It works this way: when you show mercy to anyone, you become engulfed in a flood of mercy for yourself. When you turn the tap of mercy on for others, that very same tap is turned on for you. Or, as Jesus says in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

The master commends the shrewdness of the manager. We might say that the manager showed mercy in forgiving other peoples’ debts only to save his own skin. Perhaps so, but it worked. Perhaps, as the parable tells us, the manager feels he will have no home to go to if he loses his job. Making lots of money in the short term felt good, but what he really wanted to know is if there would be a home for him in the long run. After all the ways he screwed things up, he wanted to know if there was a reality that could show him mercy and welcome him home. There was. It was his boss. Perhaps the prodigal son wondered about the same thing. After he had made a mess of his life, through his own greed I might add, he wondered if there was a reality out there that would welcome him home. There was. It was his father. Perhaps the good thief on the cross next to Jesus, wondered about the same thing.  After spending a life in crime, he wondered if there was a person big enough to forgive his sins and welcome him home. There was. It was Jesus who responded, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

Fr. Phil Mulligan