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And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting
prudently. "For the children of this world are more prudent in
dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”
Luke 16:8
These lines conclude the Parable of the Dishonest Steward. At that
time, there was a Palastinian custom in which agents acted on
behalf of a wealthier master’s money, making loans and obtaining
them back with interest. It is similar to our modern banking
system. The problem presented in this parable was that the steward
was dishonest, skimming some of the profits for himself. As a
result, the master told the steward to get his financial affairs in
order because he was going to fire him. The shrewd steward, acting
on the authority he still had for the moment, then went forth and
reduced the debt of each of his master's debtors so as to win favor
with each of them so that he could do business with them after he
was fired by his master.
Obviously, Jesus does not tell this parable because He approves of
dishonest and shrewd deception in business practices. Instead, He
tells it to illustrate the fact that many people who are motivated
by selfishness and worldly goals use the natural gift of prudence
with much more zeal than many of the “children of light.”
Think about your goals in life. If you were to make a list of your
goals, what would it look like? And if you were to order that list
according to the importance of those goals, what would be first?
Hopefully, on the top of that list, you would have as your primary
goal the love, service and glory of God. In the end, that is all
that matters in life. Every other goal in life will fall into place
when that is our central goal.
However, if you were to order your list according to how much time,
energy and prudence you put into each endeavor, how would it look?
Would it look different? Most likely. Many people go about their
lives putting a tremendous amount of time and effort into the
passing things of this world. Many make their financial advancement
the goal with which they spend the most time and energy. Others
devote countless hours to hobbies, entertainment, home
improvements, sports, and even wasteful activities such as binging
on television. When it comes to the practice of the faith, it is a
rare person who devotes a significant amount of time and energy to
daily prayer, studying the Scriptures, learning the Catechism, and
studying the lives of the saints. Many experience Sunday Mass as a
burden. Charitable service can become undesirable. Many rarely work
at the proclamation of the Gospel.
Though it is true that much of your time might need to be devoted
to the ordinary duties of life, such as making a living and caring
for the home and family, it is also true that most people need to
reorder their priorities by making sure that the will of God is the
central mission of their lives. How is this best accomplished? It
begins with the virtue of prudence. Prudence is both a natural
virtue and a supernatural one. On a natural level, prudence is
called the “mother of all virtues” because it is the quality by
which every other virtue, all our time and energy, goals and
ambitions are directed. Prudence is the act of vigorously using our
minds to creatively and zealously work to achieve the most
important goals in life. Supernatural prudence is a spiritual gift
by which our natural abilities of prudence are infused with the
grace of God, and we are better equipped to know how to accomplish
God’s will for our lives.
Reflect, today, upon what your list would look like if you were to
make it honestly. What do you spend the most time and energy doing?
Even if you need to spend most of your time on the ordinary aspects
of life, this becomes a holy endeavor when you do it because God is
inspiring you to do so. In that case, even the ordinary becomes
grace-filled and becomes a way by which you glorify God. The only
way for you to know if you are using your time and energies
properly is by being open to the gift of supernatural prudence.
Pray for that gift today and ask our Lord to more directly order
your life so that everything you do is for the glory of God and the
salvation of souls.
Lord, You are perfect Wisdom; You are Prudence Itself. Please
flood my mind and will with Your divine presence and fill me with a
desire to make Your perfect will the central mission of my life.
Please help me to know how to order my days so that everything I do
gives You glory and works toward the salvation of souls, beginning
with my own. Jesus, I trust in You.
Image: Андрей Николаевич Миронов (A.N. Mironov), CC BY-SA
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