Today's Gospel reading includes one of Jesus' most puzzling parables and some of his most famous sayings on wealth. The most common interpretations describe the lesson of the parable as encouragement to “use the resources at hand” in crisis situations, or simply that we must be determined in making right our relationship with God. Like many of Jesus' parables which involve the character of the “master,” though, such interpretations are often unsatisfying as they portray God in ways that are quite un-God-like!
Some scholars say that we should not assume that the “master” character in Jesus' parables always represents God, nor should we read the parables through the capitalist values of profit, shrewdness, etc. that are so pervasive in our society. Perhaps the “master” in today's parable does not represent God, and perhaps the steward is not meant to be the “hero” of the story. Perhaps in this parable Jesus is describing the relationships involved in the economic system of his day in which masters, debtors and the managerial classes – the “middle men” – do not trust one another and engage in various tactics to get what they want or what they need. Perhaps Jesus is not telling us to imitate the steward in any sense, but is revealing to his listeners the material and spiritual dangers of systems that exploit the poor.
We know from the first reading from Amos the way God judges such systems. And we know from the end of today's Gospel that Jesus, too, believes that people cannot serve both God and systems that exploit human persons. Insofar as our own economic system includes structures that create poverty and exploit vulnerable persons, can followers of Jesus today serve it?
Michael Iafrate is a doctoral student in theology at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto studying liberation theologies and social movements in Appalachia. He is also a former campus minister/pastoral associate at St. John's, an independent musician, a husband, and a father. You can find him on the web at www.michaeliafrate.com, www.rockandtheology.com, and www.catholicanarchy.org.
Question of the Week:
As you see it, what constitutes serving “mammon”? In today’s complex economic structure, how can followers of Jesus avoid serving mammon?
Recommended Reading:
Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Promulgated by Pope Paul VI, 1965 www.vatican.va search “The Church in the Modern World”
The Better World Handbook by Jones, Haenfler, and Johnson. www.betterworldhandbook.com
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