25th Sunday of Ordinary Time–Year C - 2013

May the peace of Christ reign in our hearts.

This week  when we read this Gospel at our youth group there were lots of questions…

At first glance its is confusing. It almost seems to be praising the deceitful steward who is about to fired for stealing money from his employer. When you look deeper it is actually the shady employer praising the shady steward.
 
Here are three simple points we can take from this complicated Gospel

1. The steward was desperate and so he worked hard to figure out a way to provide for himself.

If all of us worked as hard at being holy as we do trying to get ahead,

If all of us prayed with the same intensity that we watch our investments or bank account,

if we were concerned as much about the things of heaven as we are about the things of earth we would be incredibly different people,

and our homes, our town, our country and our world would be very different places indeed.   

That’s the lesson of the deceitful steward. Let’s think about that for a moment.

2. Material things in and of themselves are not important people are.

Material things our wealth our resources should be directed toward the good of others. We should use our material well being to help others. Even the shady or dishonest Steward understood that.

St. Ambrose said… The rich can indeed help the poor in this world..  but it is poor also help the rich by in next world. 

In other words, the rich man gives the poor bread, a poor man give the rich the ability to store up treasures in heaven.

After reading this Gospel all of us should ask ourselves where should our treasure be or where should we store our treasure, here on earth to be left behind or in heaven where we can enjoy our good works forever.

Just think about that for a minute

3. Many times in our lives it is hard to figure out who we can trust and who we can’t trust.

Jesus in this Gospel reminds us If a person is trustworthy in something small they can be trusted in something big. 

In other words, if you want to see if someone really loves you, don’t look for grand gestures, anyone can do grand gestures. Rather if you want to know if you can trust someone watch them day in and day out over time and you will find out if they care for you or not.

We should work hard for holiness

We should store up our treasure in heaven

and

You can find out who to trust by watching their actions.

Three simple lesson to ponder from today’s Gospel

Amen