The Parable of the Dishonest Steward

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In today's Gospel from Luke 16, our Lord tells the story of a dishonest steward who was let go. To save his self from manual labor or begging, he devised a way that would allow him to remain in good standing with the debtors. He asked for the amount of debt of each debtor but asked them to write a promissory note with only the amount needed to pay his master. Thus, the debt was paid to the master and still he has the debtors for company. The master praised the dishonest steward for exercising prudence. Very clever! Very, very clever! In foregoing the commission that was supposed to be the steward's profit, the Gospel teaches us that we also need to empty ourselves, or deny ourselves of too much worldly wealth, or refrain from pursuing false ambitions. In so doing, we gain company, and praise from our God.