SURVIVING IN THE WORLD-WITHOUT-END

With the soaring prices of basic commodities, one is challenged on how to make ends meet. For P15,200 (average salary in the Philippines as of 2020), how can one pay his bills (electricity and water bills), buy food, and finance the education of his children? People are left with no choice but to be creative in dealing with this tough time. When push comes to shove, one's survival instinct kicks in. Out of this sorry situation, one food cart business is able to come up with a meal set worth P20 only. It is called bentelog. Through P20, one can have a meal for his lunch; a cup of rice, an egg, and a small portion of meat. One needs to pull all his resources together, and do everything to thrive in these trying times. When all these are behind our back, hopefully, we can say: We survive (even with just P20)!

 In the gospel (Lk 16:1-13), the master commended a dishonest steward. The master praised the steward, not because of his dishonesty but because he acted prudently. Upon realizing that his evil schemes would be revealed and eventually suffer the severe consequences of his sins against his master, the steward thought of ways on how to over those (future) consequences. The story of the dishonest steward does not aim to teach how to be deceitful but rather to desire and do something that one may survive. By organizing well whatever he had and can, the steward managed to clear a path for his (future) subsistence. For that prudence (wisdom, use of common sense), not for his cheating, his master commended him. 

The commendable survival instinct of the steward, we are to imitate, but certainly not that we may also engage with fraudulent deeds. The later part of the gospel (Lk 16:1-13) points us to where we should make use of our desire to withstand any difficulties. Jesus said: I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Our eyes, and efforts to live in this world, by all means, should be directed to that eternal dwellings; that is Heaven. All the things we do should contribute to our survival in the world-without-end, and not simply in this world that ends. Jesus concludes with the way how we can do this: 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. To endure until to the world-without-end, we are to make a choice who are we to serve: the masterS of this world or the Master of the eternal dwellings? The key to survival lies in whom we are to choose.  

When mammon is chosen; that is to survive merely in this world, corruption and sinfulness seep into our lives, to our very being. When money and worldly riches are foolishly desired and used, they can debase us. They deprive us of desiring God and His kingdom. When money is all that is in our minds, we can do unreasonable things to ourselves and more so to our neighbors. In the book of the prophet Amos (Am 8:4-7), those who chose to survive in this world and serve mammon decided unflinchingly to cheat their neighbor; trampling upon the needy, and destroying the poor of the land. They fix their scales for cheating, buy the lowly for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat they will sell. All this in the name of worldly riches. The LORD will never forget a thing they have done!

Choosing God, and desiring to survive in the next world is no easy task. When we see those who robbed us and steal from the public coffers, living in a prosperous, while those who live in honest ways and eat the fruit of their hard labor, one may be tempted to join the bandwagon living in this world as if there is no next. We may justify ourselves by saying: anyway, everybody is doing it; everybody lies. We can remain steadfast for the choice we make (in choosing God, and to live for the eternal dwellings that await us) through the counsel of St. Paul (1 Tm 2:1-8), I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. In the face of temptations to choose God or to cheat our neighbor, we pray and beg for God's grace that we may remain faithful to Him; that our dignity as His children may remain unsullied. And the Lord, hearing our prayers, will lift us in our poverty. We who chose Him, and remain faithful in Him, will survive in the world without end.

PRAISE TO THE DISHONEST STEWARD

We are disgusted by matapobres; those who kill the poor; those who consider other people as insignificant. Even the Lord condemns them and their deeds as He said through the Prophet Amos: Never will I forget a thing they have done! (Amos 8:4-7), referring to the misdeeds of people who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land. And they kill the poor people through their dishonesty in doing business with them; in deceiving them just so they may gain more for themselves. They cheat the poor and others just so they may gain more money, more prestige, more honor in the eyes of this world; to live a comfortable life. But they are deceived, for none of these worldly riches matter in the end. After they cheated and did dishonesties, they may live in beautiful houses, ride luxurious vehicles, but they are still unhappy; they are poorer than the poor ones they may have outsmarted. Their dismal treatment of the poor negates their desire to live a good life which could only be achieved through honesty and generosity especially to the little ones who are precious in the eyes of God.

How shall we deal then with the poor, given the temptation to be rich in this world? The resources and talents we have are gifts entrusted to us by the Lord as their stewards. They are gifts entrusted to us to be managed, to grow and be shared with others. In Filipino, we call our properties ari-arian. The repetition of the root word ari means that they do not belong to us for real as in the case of bahay-bahayan, lutu-lutuan, and palayok-palayukan. We are simply stewards of the ari-arian entrusted to us by the Lord. As stewards, the Lord expects us to develop and use these properties, not for the sake of increasing their values in themselves, but so that we may please the real Owner of these properties; that we may please the Lord, as we become good overseers of His goods. Our ari-arian are not ends in themselves but only means for us to return and please the Lord. The best way to handle the gifts the Lord entrusted to us is by sharing them to others, most especially to those who are in need. They are not ours to keep, but entrusted to us to give to others.      

In the Gospel (Lk 16:1-13), we heard of the story of a steward whose relationship with his master fell apart for putting into waste the properties entrusted to him by his master. He was asked to prepare an accounting of his master's properties. Upon realizing his wrong deeds, the steward looked for a way to save himself from an impending disaster of his life; of living a miser's life should he be removed from being a steward and fall from the grace of his master. He used the properties that remained under his management and showed generosity to the debtors of his master by writing off portions of the debts. The steward hoped that later these debtors might return such favor. He rectified the mistakes he had committed in the past to secure his future.

On one hand, one may judge the steward of being dishonest to his master, not just once (when he squandered his master's properties) but twice (when he wrote off portions of debts from his master's account). But on the other hand, one cannot miss the generosity he showed to the poor debtors, and determination to secure a good future. And to add to the confusion of this scenario, the master even praised the steward for doing so. To understand this gospel passage it is important to note that this passage comes after the three parables of lost sheep, the lost coin and of the prodigal son. These parables too showed ways that are beyond human logic: Why would a shepherd leave the ninety-nine sheep in exchange for one lost sheep? Why would a lady throw a party when she finds one lost coin? Why would a father welcome a prodigal son after he squandered his inheritance? And so why would a master praise a dishonest steward? Illogical? For us men, yes! For God, no! For God, our master, sees the generosity of the steward to the poor debtors, and his concern to swiftly rectify his mistake and secure a good future (his salvation). And for that realization, and generosity, the steward won back the trust of his master. The dishonest steward was praised not because of his dishonesty (for the Lord abhors such misdeed) but because of his determination to secure his future by correcting his past mistakes through acts of generosity.

Despite our shortcomings, in the end, we will never be wrong in being generous, especially to the poor, as our heavenly Father is generous to us. We will never be wrong in prioritizing and doing everything just so we may be saved from damnation; from a bleak future. Generosity to others is the ultimate standard through which we will be judged if we have become good and faithful stewards of the ari-arian the Lord entrusted to us.

The good news is, the Lord allows us to rectify our mistakes, just as the master gave his steward a chance to be generous to the poor. Our dishonesty and sinfulness are not enough reasons for God to condemn us in eternal damnation, as God wills that everyone be saved (1 Tm 2:1-8). St. John Chrysostom said “Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again: for forgiveness has risen from the grave!” He is a generous God after all, who gives us the opportunity to be His good stewards. That is if we choose to serve God alone, rather than worldly mammon; that is if we choose to rectify our mistakes.

Will you choose to be dishonest and gain the riches of this world?

Will you rather be honest and generous, to secure the salvation that the Lord offers?

The choice is yours to make.