8th Sunday After Pentecost Homily

From Monsignor Knox, “we must not read too much into this parable, but we must use our worldly goods while we still have time to do it. We must copy the steward with his urgent thought about the future.”

In the words of Saint Augustine, “The steward was insuring himself for life that was about to end. Would you not insure yourself for eternal life?”

This parable should bring forth focus on the four last things (death, judgment, Heaven, and hell). Our sight should be placed upon Heaven and we should have the desire to get there. If this is true within us we must come to order our life after eternal life before time runs out.

We know not the time nor the hour, but there will come a time when we will find ourself before God to be judged. Time was running out for the steward and he used what little time that he still had prudently. Time, no matter what our past is, we must act prudently with the time that we still have set before us. This time cannot be squandered with the false pretense that we will always have tomorrow.

God has entrusted us with so many gifts and we are called to do something with them. Earthly goods are not and evil, but we cannot not allow them to control us nor can we use them against the common good. Some order their life after the excess of earthly mammon. It is this mammon which becomes the purpose of their life. We instead are called to live freely as disciples of the Lord taking from what we have and doing something with it.

As Americans we are taught that we must invest in our future. Thus people invest their money into a 401K or Roth IRA in order that they may provide for their future once retirement comes. This parable is inviting us to invest in our future by providing for our spiritual wellbeing and letting go of all that keeps us from God.

Are we truly thinking prudently when it pertains to eternal life or are we overlooking it in order to be overly concerned with the ways of this world? The Lord is inviting us to be smart with the time that we still have and to act prudently. Use this time for prayer and the pursuit of virtue. With these elements entwined into our life we prepare ourself for that which is most important. We prepare ourself for eternal life. With the gift of God’s grace let us strive for this Heavenly Kingdom.