Use your wealth to help the Poor

XXV SUNDAY 'C' Luke 16:1-13 Jesus said to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, 'What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.' The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.' He called in his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, 'How much do you owe my master? ‘He replied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.' Then to another the steward said, 'And you, how much do you owe?' He replied, 'One hundred kors of wheat.' The steward said to him, 'Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.' 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. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon."

Are you confused by today's gospel? What is Jesus saying about the unrighteous steward? Is Jesus offering him up as a good example? If God is the master and we are the stewards, can we gain heaven by stealing money? I don't think so. I think the last sentence of today's gospel is the key point: in short, you cannot serve God and money. Today's Gospel, the parable, and the sayings that follow have one point in common, the problem of money: it speaks of unjust money of unjust riches. He never talks about just money, or good riches. The truth is that in Jesus' time very few people had money. Only the richest and most powerful could accumulate money. The poor had a barter system. If I give you a kilo of tomatoes you give me a kilo of wheat. If he worked in his field, the payment was food or lodging, etc. Poor people, most of them were not in the habit of accumulating money. They had no bank accounts; there were no investments in the stock market. If they had money, it was to buy what I needed today. Today's message is primarily for the wealthy. With money, so full of injustices, win friends who, when you die, will receive you in heaven. What Jesus is saying to the rich, if you have money, you should use it to help the poor is the only way you can win heaven. At the hour of their death money is useless, but if you have helped the poor, they can be their salvation. Last week the Pope was talking about this money issue, he said, "[There was] the news that Elon Musk is going to be the world's first trillionaire. What does that mean and what is it about? If money is the only thing that already has value, then we're in big trouble." Of course, his words were not well received. The same thing in Jesus' time. Jesus criticized the rich and lovers of money in his time and Pope Leo is criticizing the rich in our time. The same is true in today’s first reading the prophet Amos is criticizing the rich because they are using their goods to ruin the poor. So, the message of the day is about the problem of money and wealth. And what is a message for us then? I know we don't have very rich people here. That most of us only live off what we have. If we have money saved, it is because we want to buy a car or a house, or in case of an accident or emergency. But the thing is, you may be the poorest person in the world that you don't even have a nickel to buy a sandwich, but you still can be the most money-loving person. As Pope Leo says, if money is the only thing that already has value, we have a big problem. What today's readings and Pope Leo are saying is that in God's world the poor are listened to, they are important, they have value. Which is the opposite of our world where the rich are the only ones who have value. This week let's celebrate Independence Day in Mexico. The first time a woman gave the cry of Independence. I don't know if you heard Claudia, but in her cry she said Long live Mexico! She said: Long live the names of the fallen heroes in the Mexican War of Independence! But she also said: Long live the anonymous heroines! Long live the heroines and heroes who gave us our homeland! Long live indigenous women! Long live our migrant sisters and brothers!" It may be that they were just words. Claudia may not be going to do anything to help the poorest, but can you imagine anyone in the U.S. government saying and recognizing indigenous people? Can you imagine Someone here in the United States saying, "Life for our migrant sisters and brothers!" I don't think so, but in God's eyes the poor have value, indigenous peoples are important and above all our immigrant brothers and sisters are recognized. If we bear the name of Christian, if we want to be part of the kingdom of God, we have to follow the example of Jesus. We have to listen to the poor, we have to recognize their value. If we abuse or mistreat them we will suffer the consequences, "I will never forget any of these actions". Jesus comes to say this to the rich, "Use your unjust wealth to help the poor, win friends by sharing your goods. They will be your friends and at the hour of your death the money will be of no use, but they, the poor, will welcome you into the Father's house." In other words, the best way to use your money is to help others, especially the poorest in our midst.