September 21, 2025 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Am 8:4-7; 1 Tim 2:1-8; Lk 16:1-13

Homily

In chapters 14 to 16, Saint Luke recounts what could be called Jesus' “table talk.” Although this literary genre is unique to Luke among the evangelists, it was often used in his time. Jesus is invited to a meal and, like the other guests, when his turn comes, he offers reflections and teaching. The Gospel we had a few weeks ago about choosing where to sit when invited to a banquet was very much in this vein. Several of the teachings reported in this section of Luke's Gospel, including the one we have today, are found only in Luke.

This text is not a parable in the usual sense of the word. The technique of the parable was generally to get listeners to identify with one of the characters and to draw from that identification a lesson that they would not otherwise have accepted. Moreover, most of Jesus' parables are a teaching about his Father, which is not the case here. The rich man at the beginning of the story cannot be identified with God the Father, as he is only there to introduce the dishonest manager whom he calls to account.

It is quite legitimate to think that Jesus, in this story, is alluding to an event that had just happened and that everyone knew about. He uses it as a starting point to teach about the attitude to have towards money, which is summed up powerfully in the last sentence: “You cannot serve both God and Money.” And it is no coincidence that Luke, who is an excellent writer and always chooses his words carefully, uses the word “serve” here.

This story is of a completely different kind, for example, from the parable of the master who entrusts talents to his servants when he goes on a journey and asks them to give an account of their stewardship when he returns. The master in question in this parable personified Christ himself. Here, on the contrary, Jesus' teaching contrasts two worlds with completely different value systems.

The first world is that of those who have enslaved themselves to wealth and engage in all kinds of more or less clever schemes. For all those in this world, only profit matters. First, there is a “rich man” (and it would be unthinkable that, in the mind of Luke, for whom Jesus' teaching on poverty is so important, this “rich man” could represent God the Father). This rich man has no servants; he has a “manager” of his property, and when he is told that this manager is not managing well, he asks him to account for his actions and simply dismisses him—as is done in the business world. This manager is cunning and knows how to secure his future through his latest transactions, much like company presidents who receive millions of euros or dollars in compensation when they are dismissed for mismanagement or fraud.

We can appreciate the skill of this “deceit,” as does the master of this dishonest manager. But of course, Jesus is not inviting us to do the same. He even invites us to do the opposite, regretting that the sons of “this world” of darkness are more skilled in their own world than the sons of light are in theirs. The money we have at our disposal—which always remains “deceptive” money that risks deceiving us about our own importance—should not be used to buy friends, as one might understand this text in a superficial way—which would only be a slightly more noble form of corruption—but to make friends in the eternal dwellings. That is to say, to live in such a way that our hearts are already in the eternal dwellings, so that those who live there are already our friends and will welcome us when we cross over to the other side.

The fundamental question is not whether we have little money or a lot of money or none at all, but rather “where is our heart?” and “who is our master?” We can be slaves to material things even if we possess very little. On the other hand, if we are truly “servants” of God and his Son Jesus Christ, we will follow his example and become servants of all our brothers and sisters, whether our possessions are small or great. We cannot “serve” both God and money.

Furthermore, the English translation of this last sentence does not convey the full force of Luke's text, which personifies money by giving it a proper name: “Mammon.” “You cannot,” says Jesus, “serve both God and Mammon.”

We must choose whom we want to be ‘servants’ of and therefore whom we want to have as our “master.”

Armand VEILLEUX