If you have not been trustworthy for dishonest money, who will entrust you with the real thing ?

Parable of the Infidel Bursar

# The faithful and wise Bursar is a parable from the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke, also found in Saint Matthew. It is the image of trust, respect, fidelity and prudence. For the Doctor of the Church, John Chrysostom, the faithful bursar is one who knows how to generously dispense the divine word and miracles like the pastors of the Church. John Chrysostom, in his study of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, says that the title of bursar also refers to the powerful of the world, to kings who must help the people.

The saint reminds us that we are only dispensers of spiritual and material wealth, not the true owners. The archbishop also says that punishment hangs on the nose of the miser. # The Parable of the Unjust Steward or Parable of the Penitent Steward is a parable of Jesus which appears in Luke 16:1–13. According to the commentators of the New American Bible Revised Edition, the parable is about an agent who, knowing he is about to be fired for usury, repents of his sin, asking the debtors to only pay what they owe his master — rather than pay him as well.

This is in line with what John the Baptist tells the tax collectors and soldiers about exploiting tax payers and debtors earlier in the gospel. Jesus’ parable of the unjust manager is one of the most striking in all the Gospels. Jesus’ point is simply to show us what money is really for. Typically we think of ourselves first when we answer that question.

But Jesus invites us to realize that, first, our money isn’t really ours — we’re simply managing it for its real owner, God. Second, even « filthy lucre » can be pressed into the service of God and our neighbor. When it is, the benefits will last beyond this life — which the things we buy for ourselves won’t. For example, money can be used to spread the Gospel, through which the Holy Spirit will gather believers into Christ’s church. We will enjoy blessed fellowship with these believers forever, long after the money itself is gone.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

At that time, Jesus said to his ffolowers : « I say to you, make friends with dishonest money, so that on the day when it is no longer there, these friends may welcome you into eternal habitations. He who is trustworthy in the least thing is trustworthy also in a great thing.
He that is dishonest in the least thing is also dishonest in a great thing. If you have not been trustworthy for dishonest money, who will entrust you with the true good ?
And if you have not been trustworthy for other people, what is yours, who will give it to you? No servant can serve two masters : either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.»

When they heard all this, the Pharisees, who loved money, made fun of Jesus. Then he said to them : « You are among those who pretend to be righteous in the eyes of the people, but God knows your hearts; for what is prestigious to people is an abominable thing in the sight of God. » (Lk 16:9-15)

Make friends with unjust wealth

What are these unjust riches ? And what are the friends we must make through them ? The reason why Jesus called the goods of this world unjust was explained in many different ways. It is because there is almost always some injustice, near or far, in the way they were acquired or in the use to which they were put.

How then was this bursar unjust? Firstly, by dissipating his master’s property, and then by disposing of it for his own personal profit. This is how most people make unjust the riches that God entrusts to them. Instead of considering themselves as administrators who will account to him, they make themselves the true owners and, forgetting their responsibility, they accumulate these goods in their avarice, display them to feed their pride, or dissipate them to satisfy their passions.

What use, then, does Jesus advise them to make of these goods, which have become unjust in their hands ?  The parable gives the answer: The time is approaching when everyone will be called to account for their administration, so they must imitate the bursar, who hastened to take advantage of a last reprieve to make sure that his friends received him in their homes : « And I say to you, Make friends.  » (Lk 16, 9).

Who are these friends ? One says : « The supreme friend that we must make is God himself by using the goods he entrusts to us in his service.  » Olshausen says : « It is the Lord Jesus, who sees the good that we do to the least of his brothers and sisters as done to himself ». For Meyer, these friends are the angels, whom Jesus himself represents to us as those who bring the righteous into the kingdom of God.

But the most generally accepted interpretation is that these friends are people: ignorant to teach, unhappy to relieve, poor to help. They must be bound by charity, by true Christian charity. Their recognition will remain until the next century. The meaning of the two lessons is therefore similar, but the last one is better suited to the parable, since it was the goods that the bursar suddenly lacked that the bursar administered.

This word for tabernacle or tent is an allusion to the life of the patriarchs who, as foreigners and travellers, pitched their tents for a day. In the future economy they will be eternal; they will be the dwellings of the house of the Father, the building which is the work of God.

As these friends were poor and unfortunate rescuers, they limited themselves to welcoming them with gratitude and love. In some cases also these poor people who were helped could become the instruments of their salvation for those who came to their aid. The goods entrusted to us, such as those administered by the bursar, are not to be given to the poor.

As these friends were poor and unfortunate rescuers, they limited themselves to welcoming them with gratitude and love. In some cases also these poor people who were helped could become the instruments of their salvation for those who came to their aid. The goods entrusted to us, like those administered by the bursar, are not ours but God’s. If, like him, we are not faithful in the use we make of them, could God give us what is ours?

The goods of the earth are God’s, who entrusts them to whomever he wants them, for a time, and they always remain for us external goods. Salvation, on the contrary, eternal life, is ours, because it is an inheritance legitimately acquired from us, and above all because it is assimilated into us in such a way as to become an integral part of our spiritual and immortal nature.

This remarkable word opens up an unexpected perspective on the dignity that Jesus attributes to the human soul, and also on the state of God’s children in heaven, where everything they possess will be perfectly identical to their being and will be appropriated to them forever through endless progress in the knowledge and love of God.

The teaching that Jesus gave here provoked the sneers of the money-loving Pharisees. Jesus declared that the fame they enjoyed among men was an abomination to God who knew their hearts. The law that prevailed until John was not abolished by the publication of this kingdom of God, which was the object of the ardent pursuit of many. It will subsist as much as heaven and earth.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christians websites

◊ Catholic exchange : click here to red the paper  →   The True Wealth of Our True Master

◊ By Simon : click here to red the paper  →  How not to think like a toddler about money

♥ Make Friends with the Mammon of Iniquity

He that exalteth himself shall be humbled ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

# The Pharisee and the Publican is a parable transmitted by Jesus Christ in the Gospel according to Luke. It deals with the subjects of righteousness and humility. In the field of biblical exegesis, it is part of the Sondergut of this gospel. For the Doctor of the Church. John Chrysostom, in his homily n°2 on conversion, justice and humility are the two values defended by Jesus Christ in this parable. The archbishop is critical of the Pharisee and claims : « Miserable are you, you who dare to pass judgment on the earth… Do you still need to condemn this publican… How smug in these wordsb !… Why show such pride ? « . John Chrysostom concludes : « And, for having shown humility, he (the tax collector) was justified… (and) the tax collector went away with a renewed heart of renewed justice… ».

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

One Sabbath day, Jesus had entered the house of a chief Pharisee to eat his meal, and the Pharisees were watching him. Jesus spoke a parable to the guests when he noticed how they were choosing the first places, and he said to them : « When someone invites you to a wedding, do not go and sit in the first place, lest he have invited someone else more highly regarded than you.

Then the one who invited you and him will come and say to you : « Give him your place »; and at that moment you will go, full of shame, to take the last place. On the contrary, when you are invited, go and take the last place. Then, when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you : « My friend, go higher », and it will be an honour for you in the eyes of all those who will be at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled; whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  » (Lk 14, 1.7-11).

♥ The Parable of the Wedding Feast is one of the parables of Jesus and appears in the New Testament (Lk 14, 7-14). It directly precedes the Parable of the great Banquet (Lk 14, 15-24). In Mattttew’s Gospel, the parallel passage to Luke’s Parable of the Great Banquet is also set as a wedding feast (Mt 22, 1-14)

In New Testament times, a wedding was a very sacred and joyous thing. Some even lasted up to or more than a week. When Jesus told this parable, many people were able to understand the picture he was trying to create because he used a Jewish Weddind – specifically, a Seudat Nissuin as the setting of the story.

« Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted » ( Lk 14, 11) this saying is also found in Luke 18, 14 and Matthew 23, 12). It is similar to Matthew 18, 4

He that exalteth himself shall be humbled ; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Pharisee who invited Jesus with many other guests was appointed one of the leaders of the party of the Pharisees, both political and religious, and was a member of the Sanhedrin. The decided hostility of the Pharisees against Jesus gave this acceptance a special character of support and charity. Other Pharisees, who were also invited, spied on Jesus, as did the master of the house, in order to catch him in some way at fault against the Sabbath law. Perhaps they had already seen the sick man there and thought that Jesus would heal him.

What Jesus reproached the Pharisee for was not that he fulfilled the law of God. What he reproached him for was that he did not do it out of love. He only sought his own interest. Instead of rejoicing and giving thanks because he was known and loved by God, he glorified himself. He gave thanks not because God welcomed him as he was, but because of his poverty and fragility. No. He gave thanks because he was not like the others ! That he and he alone deserved this love. He felt superior. It was this feeling of superiority that radically separated him from God.

The Pharisee fulfilled God’s commandments. But he did not know what love was. So he did not know God, because God is love. « He who does not love does not know God » (1 Jn 4:8). It is pride that separates us not only from our neighbour but also from God. And the worst form of pride is religious pride: pretending that even in the eyes of God I am not like the others. This is the mentality that for Jesus was intolerable. It was only for these people that he was so harsh: « He who exalts himself will be humbled; he who humbles himself will be exalted.

To understand this instruction in its depth, it should be noted that it takes the form of a parable. Jesus did not intend to give his guests a lesson in politeness or modesty. All men sought the first place, because they were proud before God; and they never became humble towards each other, to the point that one esteemed the other more highly than himself, before humbling themselves before God in a feeling of profound repentance.

This is the comment that Jesus made about his parable in the words that ended it: to rise before men has the certain consequence of being lowered before God, and the opposite is true.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other christian web sites

◊ Richard Navarro : click here to read the paper → What does it mean that ; « he who exalts himself shall be exalted ?

◊Vultus Christi : click here to read the paper →  Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled 

♥ World Mission Society Church of God : « Whoever Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled »

Quiconque s’élève sera abaissé ; et qui s’abaisse sera élevé

# Le Pharisien et le Publicain est une parabole transmise par Jésus-Christ dans l’Évangile selon Luc. Elle aborde les sujets de la justice et de l’humilité. Dans le domaine de l’exégèse biblique, elle fait partie du Sondergut de cet évangile. Pour le docteur de l’Église. Jean Chrysostome, dans son homélie n°2 sur la conversion, justice et humilité sont les deux valeurs défendues par Jésus-Christ dans cette parabole. L’archevêque se place en personne critique envers le pharisien et clame : « Misérable sois-tu, toi qui oses porter un jugement sur la terre… As-tu encore besoin de condamner ce publicain… Que de suffisance dans ces paroles !… Pourquoi manifester un tel orgueil ? ». Jean Chrysostome conclut: « Et, pour avoir fait preuve d’humilité, il (le publicain) a été justifié… (et) le publicain s’en allait, le cœur renouvelé d’une justice retrouvée… »

De l’Évangile de Jésus Christ selon saint Luc

Un jour de sabbat, Jésus était entré dans la maison d’un chef des pharisiens pour y prendre son repas, et ces derniers l’observaient. Jésus dit une parabole aux invités lorsqu’il remarqua comment ils choisissaient les premières places, et il leur dit : « Quand quelqu’un t’invite à des noces, ne va pas t’installer à la première place, de peur qu’il ait invité un autre plus considéré que toi.

Alors, celui qui vous a invités, toi et lui, viendra te dire : “Cède-lui ta place” ; et, à ce moment, tu iras, plein de honte, prendre la dernière place. Au contraire, quand tu es invité, va te mettre à la dernière place. Alors, quand viendra celui qui t’a invité, il te dira : « Mon ami, avance plus haut”, et ce sera pour toi un honneur aux yeux de tous ceux qui seront à la table avec toi. En effet, quiconque s’élève sera abaissé ; qui s’abaisse sera élevé. » (Lc 14, 1.7-11)

Quiconque s’élève sera abaissé ; et qui s’abaisse sera élevé

Le pha­ri­sien qui in­vita Jésus avec beau­coup d’autres convives  fut dé­si­gné comme l’un des chefs du parti des pharisiens, à la fois po­li­tique et re­li­gieux, il fut membre du sanhédrin. L’­hos­ti­lité dé­ci­dée que ma­ni­fes­tèrent les pha­ri­siens contre Jé­sus donna à cette ac­cep­ta­tion un ca­rac­tère tout par­ti­cu­lier de sup­port et de cha­rité.

D’autres pha­ri­siens, éga­le­ment in­vi­tés, épièrent Jésus, de même que le fit le maître de la mai­son, pour le sur­prendre en quelque faute contre la loi du sab­bat. Peut-être même eurent-ils déjà aperçu le ma­lade qui se trou­vait là et pen­saient-ils que Jé­sus le gué­ri­rait.

Ce que Jésus reprocha au pharisien, ce ne fut pas qu’il accomplit la Loi de Dieu. Ce qu’il lui reprocha, c’est qu’il ne le fit pas par amour. Il ne chercha que son propre intérêt. Au lieu d’être dans la joie et dans l’action de grâce parce qu’il fut connu et aimé de Dieu, il se glorifia lui-même. Il rendit grâce non pas parce que Dieu l’accueillit tel qu’il fut, aussi dans sa pauvreté et sa fragilité. Non. Il rendit grâce parce qu’il ne fut pas comme les autres ! Que lui et lui seul mérita cet amour. Il se sentt supérieur. Ce fut ce sentiment de supériorité qui le sépara radicalement de Dieu.

Le pharisien accomplit les commandements de Dieu. Mais il ne sut pas ce que fut l’amour. Il ne connut donc pas Dieu, car Dieu est amour. « Celui qui n’aime pas, ne connaît pas Dieu » (1 Jn 4,8). C’est l’orgueil qui nous sépare non seulement de notre prochain mais aussi de Dieu. Et la pire forme d’orgueil, c’est l’orgueil religieux : prétendre que même aux yeux de Dieu je ne →suis pas comme les autres. C’est cette mentalité qui pour Jésus était intolérable. Ce n’est que pour ces personnes qu’il a été si dur : « Qui s’élève sera abaissé ; qui s’abaisse sera élevé »

Pour com­prendre cette ins­truc­tion dans sa pro­fon­deur, il faut re­mar­quer qu’elle re­vêt la forme d’une parabole. Jé­sus n’eut pas l’in­ten­tion de don­ner à ses convives une le­çon de po­li­tesse ou de mo­des­tie. Tous les hommes re­cherchèrent la première place, parce qu’ils furent or­gueilleux de­vant Dieu ; et ja­mais ils ne de­vinrent humbles les uns à l’égard  des autres, au point que l’un es­time l’autre plus ex­cellent que soi-même, avant de s’être hu­mi­liés de­vant Dieu dans le sen­ti­ment d’une pro­fonde re­pen­tance.

C’est là le com­men­taire que Jé­sus donna de sa pa­ra­bole dans les pa­roles qui la ter­minèrent : s’élever de­vant les hommes a pour consé­quence cer­taine d’être abaissé de­vant Dieu, et l’in­verse.

Diacre Michel Houyoux

Liens avec d’autres sites chrétiens sur Internet

◊ Regnum Christi : cliquez ici, pour lire l’article, → Quiconque s’élève sera abaissé, et celui qui s’abaisse sera élevé

◊ Bible en ligne : cliquez ici, pour lire l’article, →  Évangile du jour – Qui s’abaisse sera élevé

♥ Abbé Francis_Corbiere : « Quiconque s’élève sera abaissé, qui s’abaisse sera élevé »

Cette génération devra rendre compte du sang de tous les prophètes depuis le sang d’Abel jusqu’au sang de Zacharie

De l’Évangile de Jésus Christ selon saint Luc

En ce temps-là, Jésus disait : « Quel malheur pour vous, parce que vous bâtissez les tombeaux des prophètes, alors que vos pères les ont tués. Ainsi vous témoignez que vous approuvez les actes de vos pères, puisque eux-mêmes ont tué les prophètes, et vous, vous bâtissez leurs tombeaux. C’est pourquoi la Sagesse de Dieu elle-même a dit : Je leur enverrai des prophètes et des apôtres ; parmi eux, ils en tueront et en persécuteront.
Ainsi cette génération devra rendre compte du sang de tous les prophètes qui a été versé depuis la fondation du monde, depuis le sang d’Abel jusqu’au sang de Zacharie, qui a péri entre l’autel et le sanctuaire.
Oui, je vous le déclare : on en demandera compte à cette génération. Quel malheur pour vous, docteurs de la Loi, parce que vous avez enlevé la clé de la  connaissance ; vous-mêmes n’êtes pas entrés, et ceux qui voulaient entrer, vous les en avez empêchés. »
Quand Jésus fut sorti de la maison, les scribes et les pharisiens commencèrent à s’acharner contre lui et à le harceler de questions ; ils lui tendaient des pièges pour traquer la moindre de ses paroles. (Lc 11, 47-54)

Les pharisiens bâtirent les tombeaux des prophètes

 Bâtir les tombeaux des prophètes était, dans l’intention des pharisiens, une œuvre ré­pa­ra­trice de piété ; mais, par une iro­nie des faits que Jé­sus re­leva, ils per­pé­tuèrent le sou­ve­nir de la conduite de leurs pères en consom­mant leur œuvre. Au lieu de lais­ser tom­ber leurs crimes dans l’ou­bli, ils en élevèrent les monuments ; ils se consti­tuèrent les té­moins du meurtre des hommes de Dieu  et ils l’approuvèrent ; car eux, les tuèrent, ajouta Jé­sus, et vous, vous bâtîmes : leurs tombeaux.

Sans doute, les au­di­teurs de Jé­sus au­raient pu ré­pondre qu’en ho­no­rant les pro­phètes mar­tyrs, ils pro­tes­tèrent contre leur meurtre ; mais en pré­sence même de Jé­sus, le plus grand des pro­phètes, ils se mon­trèrent rem­plis de haine contre la vé­rité di­vine, ils té­moi­gnèrent par là que leurs soins pour les tom­beaux des pro­phètes ne furent qu’un acte d’­hy­po­cri­sie. Jé­sus dé­voila dans leur cœur le vrai com­men­taire de leurs ac­tions.

Des in­ter­prètes pensèrent que Jé­sus, s’ap­pe­lant lui-même la sagesse de Dieu, dé­clara, comme dans Mat­thieu, que ce fut lui qui en­verra des pro­phètes et des apôtres. Dans l’évangile de Matthieu, ces pa­roles s’a­dressèrent à la fois aux scribes et aux pha­ri­siens, comme tout le dis­cours. Dans le ré­cit de Luc, elles ne concernèrent que les légistes.

Ce furent les doc­teurs de la loi qui enlevèrent la clef de la connaissance ou de la science : ils s’arrogèrent le droit d’in­terpréter les Écri­tures, de les en­sei­gner aux jeunes rab­bins et de les ap­pli­quer au peuple, dans les di­verses cir­cons­tances de la vie so­ciale : « Jésus, parlant à la foule et à ses disciples,dit: Les scribes et les pharisiens sont assis dans la chaire de Moïse. » (Mt 23, 2)

La connaissance de Dieu et du sa­lut fut com­pa­rée par Jé­sus à une mai­son ou à un temple que les scribes fermèrent après s’être sai­sis de la clef. ces sa­vants théo­lo­giens n’y entrèrent pas, mais ils empêchèrent, par leurs er­reurs et leur op­po­si­tion, ceux qui voulurent entrer.

Diacre Michel Houyoux

 Compléments

◊ Diacre Michel Houyoux : cliquez ici pour lire l’article → Sainte Thérèse d’Avila (15 mars 1515-4 octobre 1582) – Mémoire

◊ Diacre Michel Houyoux : cliquez ici pour lire l’article →  Le Cantique de Zacharie (Lc 1, 57-80)

Liens avec d’autres sites chrétiens sur Internet

◊ L’évangile d’aujourd’hui pour la famille : cliquez ici pour lire l’article →  Méditons l’Évangile d’aujourd’hui

◊ Catholique.org.  : cliquez ici pour lire l’article → Il y a urgence ! – Les méditations

♥ LA CLÉ DE LA CONNAISSANCE