SHREWDNESS ON OUR WAY TO HEAVEN

Friday in the 31st Week of the Ordinary Time
Lk 16:1-8

A Japanese national, who knew about the so-called “Yamashita treasure”, flew in to retrieve the hidden fortune. Unfortunately, some bad guys harassed him and threatened to kill him if he would not tell them where the treasure was. Because the bad guys could not speak Nipongo, they hired a Nipongo-speaking Filipino interpreter.

“Sabihin mo sa Hapong iyan, kapag hindi niya sinabi sa amin kung saan nakatago ang Yamashita treasure, papatayin namin siya!” the bad guys ordered the interpreter.

The interpreter translated the bad guys’ threat to the Japanese national.

The Japanese pleaded for his life (in Nipongo, of course). “Please do not kill me,” the Japanese begged. “I will tell you where the treasure is buried. You will find it at the back of the old church in Malate. Take five steps away from the door of the sacristy. Turn to the east and take another five steps straight ahead. Then dig six feet into the earth and there you will find the hidden Yamashita treasure.”

Thereupon, the Nipongo-speaking Filipino interpreter turned to the bad guys and said, “Pinasasabi po ng Hapong ito na matapang siya. Handa raw siyang mamatay!”

When it come to money or other forms of material wealth, we can be very shrewd, can we not? Why can we not be just as shrewd when it comes to things pertaining to our salvation?

Jesus does not praise the dishonest steward in the Gospel today for his dishonesty, but for his astuteness. He is not telling us to be dishonest. He is trying to find any cleverness in us in pursuit of heaven. Will Jesus find any?