Luke 16:1-13

By Jerome J. Sabatowich

 

In today’s Gospel, two men owe a debt to a rich landowner. Although Jesus does not specify the reason for each Man’s obligation, some biblical scholars suggest the oil and the wheat were probably rent payments. A man who owned land sometimes did not plant crops on it himself but allowed other farmers to work his field in exchange for a percentage of their harvest. If the landowner had vast property holdings or if he did not live near his land, he usually hired a manager to take care of it and collect the rent.

One of the tenant farmers in today’s Gospel grew    olives that he later pressed into oil for cooking, and the other man grew wheat used to make the community’s bread supply. Knowing he is about to be fired, the wily manager writes off part of each man’s debt, hoping they will remember this when he asks them for help in the future. The landowner praises him.

Jesus gives us a clue about what he wants to teach in this parable when he compares those who immerse themselves in this world to those concerned with other-worldly matters. People put more effort into making money and acquiring possessions than they do in strengthening their relationship with God. They call all the banks in the area to get the best mortgage or interest rate but do little to learn the time and location of a good adult religious education class. They will spend months planning a vacation but cannot find time to attend weekly prayer meetings or a class on how to meditate. If all of us took our    relationship with God as seriously as we take everything else, we would all be saints.