Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Reflecting on Luke 16: 1-13
What a strange story. The steward who cheats his employer makes friends by inviting other people to cheat him too, and then the employer praises him for being so crafty. I want a boss like that.
Actually, I do have a boss like that. Jesus Christ is the boss of me. He encourages me today to be endlessly cunning, wily, inventive, ingenious, and endlessly passionate about spending eternity with him. Do whatever it takes to find me and draw near to me, and I will draw near to you. Don’t die without my grace and love and presence. Heaven will be a lot easier to enjoy if you start pursuing it right now.
So, how do we use all of our cunning to enter the kingdom of God? Perhaps the first step is to notice those things that make us feel unsettled, unhappy, unloved, and undone. None of that is kingdom material, so we have to find ways to detach from resentments, rage, the pain of disappointments, and the day-to-day coarsening of our hearts through exposure to parts of our present culture.
If we pay attention to what makes us truly happy that will surely bring us near to God, the creator of all joy. Yesterday I found a lovely CD in my car that had been forgotten in the glove compartment for several years. The minute I put it in the player the car was filled with beauty, and the grace that always accompanies it. Note to self: listening to beautiful, prayerful music makes me happy. That must be a God Thing. Do that some more.
I think I’m getting the hang of this.
What ingenious ways can you find to bring more “God Things” into your life?