8th Sunday after Pentecost 7.8.11 Living in two worlds
The unjust steward is praised for his cleverness, not for his dishonesty. Our Lord’s point is that the criminals of the world are smart at knowing their objective and in carrying it out. He is saying that we can learn a lesson from them. If we set ourselves to be good, we need to be equally smart (wise) in knowing our objective and how to attain it.
What is our objective? To get to heaven. Our objective in this life is to make the next life! We are on earth so that we can get to heaven.
This is seen as crazy by those who think this life is the only one we have. Why sacrifice anything? Why put off to tomorrow what you can have today?
But our view is guided by divine revelation. This life on earth is merely the prologue, the introduction to a much longer and fuller life in Heaven.
Here, we are on a pilgrimage. We have no lasting city here. We are tempted to settle down and live like it is all we have; and many Christians do succumb to that temptation, forgetting all about their original destination.
But we are called back by the word of God, repeatedly reminded that we have no business here other than to further our progress towards Heaven, our real home.
It is a pilgrimage, or a race, and we should see everything in that light. We must keep the end in view. ‘End’ in both senses – in time and purpose.
We might resent all this because we want some happiness now if it can be had. We are glad at the thought of being happy after we die, but can we not be happy before death as well? This is the not unreasonable question many Christians put.
Yes we can be happy in this life, and God means us to be so, but we cannot demand unlimited happiness just yet. On a journey we cannot have all the comforts that we expect when we arrive at our destination.
So a certain discipline is required from us. Always we are being asked for restraint and self-denial. We can feel exhausted by that. The way to heaven is steep and winding while the way to hell is wide and smooth. It is hard to be always climbing and going against the tide. And we might feel a certain resentment that it is so hard. But there is consolation at hand for this feeling.
We find, as we focus our thoughts on heaven, not only does it become clearer as a destination but also the way we think about this life changes too.
We are not so grasping, so greedy, so anxious to cram every possible pleasure into a limited time. Self-restraint becomes easier because we realize that anything we deny ourselves here we will receive back a hundred-fold.
And also we find that there is happiness simply in living well, and wisely. We experience peace and tranquillity – and these are no small things.
Even non-religious people will acknowledge that to be happy within is worth more than possessions or external achievements. A poor man in his hut can be happier than the king in his palace if he has peace of mind.
If having heard all this we still feel we are being cheated of something, then we know we are not yet thinking with the mind of Christ. We are still looking through worldly eyes; analysing what it will cost in worldly terms. How much wealth, popularity power will I have to give up, to be His disciple?
Our faith is not a burden, something to be cast off like uncomfortable clothing. What a time I could have if I didn’t have to go to Mass, to pray, to worry about judgment etc. But this is to forget (once again) our final objective.
Where we hope to go is so good that it is worth any sacrifice in this life. Though, as we see, this life can be happy too, when we get in the right way of understanding it.
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