25th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
September 18, 2022
Luke 16:1-13<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus\u2019 parables are not as simple as they appear. In the previous chapter (Luk 15), we listen to Jesus\u2019 three parables, that are, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons. At first, they seem ordinary stories with usual lesson, yet as we go deeper, we realize they contain values that even go beyond the human logic (see previous Sunday\u2019s reflection). Now, we encounter another Jesus\u2019 parable that challenges our normal human way of doing things: parable of dishonest steward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a steward who had been entrusted by his master to take care of his master\u2019s house and possession, and yet, instead doing his job, he prefers to squander his master\u2019s wealth and betrays his master\u2019s trust. Angered master fires his useless servant. Yet, upon this impending judgment, the servant realizes that he is not able to dig, meaning he cannot labor in the farmland or at the construction sites. He is also ashamed to become a beggar. Then, he engineers a way out. He calls all his master\u2019s debtors and cut into half all their debts by manipulating their letter of agreement. By doing this, he is doing a favor to them and making them as their friends. This is to secure way to survive after his expulsion. Surely this is manipulation and corruption, and yet he is praised for doing so. What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, Jesus is not making the steward as the model of literal imitation. He is not asking us to steal other\u2019s people wealth and involve ourselves in corrupt practices. Through this parable, Jesus employs \u2018compare and contrast\u2019 technique. The lesson looks like this: if a wicked man knows how to manipulate wealth and money to save his life on earth, so we, the followers of Christ, should be wise enough to use wealth and possession to clear our path to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus also adds the sense of urgency in His parable. The steward was desperate for his life and how he transformed his attachment to wealth to a means to his earthly salvation. Thus, we are called to free ourselves to this attachment to earthly possessions and use our wealth to make desperate attempts for our eternal salvation. As children of light, we should make eternal life as our end, and the rest will be means to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surely, eternal life is coming from the Lord only, and we can never bribe God to open the door of heavens. Yet, the Lord also wills that we freely participate in His work of redemption. One of the ways is to properly use the material blessings to help us grow in holiness, to assist other people and to support the evangelization mission of the Church. From the parables of chapter 15, we have seen the Lord who loves us and look for us even with efforts beyond human logic, and now, we are called to throw everything to respond to His love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rome
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
\nSeptember 18, 2022
\nLuke 16:1-13<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 parables are not as simple as they appear. In the previous chapter (Luk 15), we listen to Jesus\u2019 three parables, that are, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons. At first, they seem ordinary stories with usual lesson, yet as we go deeper, we realize they contain values that even go beyond the human logic (see previous Sunday\u2019s reflection). Now, we encounter another Jesus\u2019 parable that challenges our normal human way of doing things: parable of dishonest steward. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58,67],"class_list":["post-11487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection","tag-valentinus-bayuhadi-ruseno"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11488,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11487\/revisions\/11488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}