Thinking on our Feet

Homily of Sunday of the 25th Week in ordinary Time
By Fr Oluwafemi Victor Orilua Femi CSSp
Amos 8:4-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Luke 16:1-13

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells of a rich man’s manager who was accused of wasting his master’s possessions. Facing dismissal, he shrewdly reduces debts owed to his master to win favour. However, the master commends his cleverness. The Lord also teaches that faithfulness in little leads to greater trust and warns that no one can serve two masters. We must choose between serving God or being enslaved by wealth.

At times, it seems life is easier where godly values are ignored. We believe serving God has little reward, while we celebrate athletes, musicians, and the materially wealthy as celebrities. Often, we lose sight of our own God-given gifts and chase after others’ paths, thinking the grass is greener elsewhere.

No human choice is easy. Every path demands sacrifice, strategic thinking and deliberate effort. The dishonest manager was not praised for corruption but for acting decisively in crisis. That is, his ability to think on his feet. Jesus calls us to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). Wisdom must guide our actions. We may be innocence and still be guilty, for ignorance is no excuse.

Therefore, we need to pray for the wisdom to manage all God has entrusted to us for his glory:

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful with the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.’

The Lord seeks faithfulness, not mere success. All we are and all we have are his gifts, meant for service. Whether little or much, our gaze must remain fixed on him. We must be proactive, attentive, and steadfast in divine matters.

May nothing ever draws us away from God’s service. Amen.