Sometimes when we look at ourselves, we realize that for a long time we have been merely existing rather than living, that for long periods we have been more cunning than honest, that for several years we have been scraping by rather than taking life seriously.
So we are assailed by the question: how can we make amends for the past?
How can we redeem ourselves from all that has been?
Especially when we are adults and perhaps have already passed the threshold of the flourishing years of youth, this question becomes pressing. Jesus tells a particular story in today’s Gospel.
It is the story of a dishonest steward who is about to be discovered by his master and knows fully well what will happen to him. So instead of wasting time learning lies to tell, he finds a way to survive the disaster: he wins friends by forgiving debts left and right to his master’s creditors.
He is merciful out of necessity, we should say, or rather out of cunning. He is certainly not a good example, but, indeed, the only way to land on your feet after you have done wrong is to try to love as much as possible, because “charity covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
Instead of wasting time feeling sorry for us, we should spend the rest of our time loving. “The master praised that dishonest steward because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this world are shrewder in dealing with their generation than are the children of light” (Luke 16:8).
