THE SHREWD ADMINISTRATOR

Jesus praises a dishonest administrator for his shrewdness. Paradoxically, this man is an icon for the children of light, who must learn to be equally intelligent and cunning—not to steal of course—but to enter the Kingdom of God, to live the Gospel. This administrator is well aware of his guilt. And what does he do? He uses it creatively. He knows he does not have the strength to work the fields, just as he is ashamed to go begging. There is only a third way left for him, that of fraud. And from the experience he emerges victorious and even praised. Applying it to us: we all incur guilt before God and our neighbour. Of course, when it happens, we must repent and make amends. But we must also ask ourselves what relationship we establish with guilt, how we react to it. If guilt is always and only a reason for shame, we will live in a state of profound contempt and mistrust in ourselves. But in the long run this will damage the psyche; and spiritually it is neither virtuous nor healthy. A second way of reacting is to insist on eradicating all the evil that is in us by fulfilling, perhaps to the letter, God’s commandments and living a life sheltered from possible dangers and temptations. But if we look closely, this second solution is also deviant, as it can lead to a sort of moral rigidity that sometimes has nothing to do with the Gospel of Christ. Guilt, according to our story, can instead become an opportunity to enter into a relationship with others. What does it mean? Very simple: the awareness that we are all fragile and sinners can lead us to live the Father’s mercy among us, therefore to establish relationships more marked by understanding, respect, patience, making the moral poverty of others our own without falling into sterile condemnations.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey