In our first reading from the Amos, we hear of some merchants who are priming themselves to cheat, just as soon as the Sabbath ends. I suppose it’s nice that they were willing to wait for the Sabbath to be over before starting their cheating of pretty much everyone they did business with, but perhaps the real question we should be asking ourselves is – why did they bother to wait? Now, I will concede that there is a practical reason for their waiting – the Jewish authorities would have taken a dim view of their activities and likely had them imprisoned, but I think there is also a deeper reason. I think that at some level, they saw this as a way to continue to function in their crooked capacity, but while still calling themselves faithful Jews. It was a thin veneer of propriety, but one that they could take some comfort in nonetheless, and I doubt that they were the only ones thinking in this way.
In some ways, I don’t think things have changed that much. In many ways I think that we today find ways to justify ourselves by mentally separating our faith life from our secular lives, and how we conduct ourselves in anything ranging from our work to our interactions with others on a personal level. The thing is, can we really separate our faith from other parts of our lives. The answer is no, plain and simple. If we truly believe in Christs message, and in the pursuit of the salvation of our souls, then logic will tell us that our faith and our spiritual lives come before all else and supersede all else in terms of importance. There is truly no way to separate Christs message from any other aspect of our lives, it must by definition, permeate all we are if we are to be able to say we believe.
In our Gospel today, we hear the parable of the dishonest steward, and how he found a way to continue to survive even after being dismissed from his role due to his dishonest dealings, by re-evaluating how he used the dishonest wealth he had accumulated. True, he was still not what most would call a trustworthy individual, but he did show remarkable creativity in turning his situation around. In some ways, we should consider how to become equally creative in our approach to making our faith life, simply our life, with no separation of the two. The wealth that we would likely accumulate would then be spiritual wealth rather than just secular wealth, the way we treated others would always be with an eye toward how we treat other children of God, and the focus of our lives would be with Christ first. Like the unjust steward in the parable, we too will be evaluated on how we pursue and use wealth and position – will we seek true wealth, will we use what we receive justly? We need to be consistent in our actions in this life, how we handle resources, how we use the graces and gifts we receive, and how we treat those who are around us, this is all part of our integrity as stewards of these gifts. We are each of us children of God, there can be no duplicity or separation within us, and in how we live, if we wish to be truly trustworthy stewards united to our Lord.
The Deacons Bench 