Aim to serve

The scripture passages for today guide our thoughts and our prayers to the question of service; in particular the question of what it means to serve the Lord.  In the gospel passage (Lk 16:1-13), the dishonest manager has taken his position for granted.  We can presume that at least for some time, he has been using what rightfully belongs to his master to enrich himself ... and now he has been caught (Lk 16:1-2).

Even more than the loss of his position as a steward, he fears becoming an outcast, so for once, he deals honestly with his neighbours by changing their contracts to reflect what they truly owe and removing the extra charges with which he may have intended to line his own pockets.  Seeing his willingness to change, his master is able to re-establish his trust in his manager.

Like all of Jesus' parables, this story speaks of our heavenly Father and the relationship he seeks to establish with all of us.  The master is God and we are the managers of his property.  God is the complete opposite of a self-interested master.  His unfathomable love for us means that he dedicates himself to our well-being, showering us with gifts in order to help us to achieve the ultimate goal: an eternal home with him in heaven.  Like the manager, one day we will all have to give an account for the way we have used God's gifts.

However, the good news is that we see in Jesus' story that the manager is forgiven at the moment when he puts his master first - instead of himself - to say nothing of the many times in the past that he may have ignored his master's presence.  It is still not too late for us to make sure that we are serving the right master.  To serve God faithfully, with the gifts he has given us, means doing everything we can to speak and act out of love, and what more perfect example can we possibly find than the selfless and merciful love that Jesus has shown to us?