Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus emphasizes that people of faith ought to be smart in aiming to live according to God’s commandments. Their spirit ought to be nurtured so that they recognize right from wrong and aim to lead virtuous lives.

Gospel according to Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that the manger was squandering his property. So the rich man summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ “Then the manager said to himself, ‘Whet will I do, not hat my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ “So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe to my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?’ He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ “And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation then are the children of light. “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Reflections

For the first reading, today’s Gospel is confusing. Only a look beyond the surface opens the richness of meaning: Jesus is not inciting for breaking the law, but on the opposite; he extends an invitation to fully live up to the Law.

Jesus talks about a dishonest manager who is summoned before his master to give an account of the finances when he is accused of careless expenditures. He knows that his time is limited as his master has received a correct report about him; he acted carelessly. He is also aware of his limitations, and he acknowledges that he is “ashamed of to beg,” and “not strong enough to dig.” These are his emotional and physical vulnerabilities. 

Predicting his imminent downfall, what does he do? He quickly summons the debtors his master and tells them to falsify the documents, showing less debt. Each of these men quickly comply, and the dishonest manager all the sudden looks better by having covered up for some of his indiscretions, nonetheless, through dishonest means. 

The master looks at the accounts, knows that the manager acted deceitfully, and committed fraud. Yet, he praises him for his quick shrewdness of self-preservation. 

What sort of message is Jesus trying to convey? Is he suggesting acting likewise? No, of course, not…. But, maybe, in some ways, yes.

Jesus uses situational irony to illustrate an important point: If this dishonest manager was so quick and smart to commit fraud for the sake of maintaining his position, how much more important ought it to be for the “children of light” to act upright and fair? Beyond that, how urgent is it to use our abilities to do good and gather treasures in heaven? Indeed, Jesus remarks that whoever cannot be trusted with little, cannot be trusted with much. And those who place their priority on material well-being miss the point of finding true meaning in life.

Jesus emphasizes that people of faith ought to be smart in aiming to live according to God’s commandments: They need to be realistic and aware of their human limitations and understand that they are fallible, vulnerable, and finite, when it comes to their bodies and minds. Their spirit ought to be nurtured so that they recognize right from wrong and aim to lead virtuous lives. Whenever sin or weakness would tempt them to think less of themselves than being the children of God, or pull them in the wrong direction, they ought to come back to the facts: They ought to give an account, first to their own conscience, to God, and to others, make amends, and not let that weakness determine who they are, but rise above themselves in becoming who they were created to be.

The parable is also a reminder that the “master,”—God—is merciful and generously gives resources to each and every one. Each individual is a “manager,” who can make their talents prosper and their capacities refined to generously give to the world. God loves the world and every human being beyond measure. In His economy, love, kindness, generosity, and goodness multiply, and bear even more fruits; for the Lord God is abundant love and mercy.

The urgency in the manager’s actions is an incentive to review and reflect on our lives. Give thanks for what we have done well and make changes where necessary to correct the final balance. In all of our lives there are pluses and minuses. The pluses are what we gave out, which is good and worthwhile. The minuses are our shortcomings and sins. God does not change the minuses for us. He asks us to be responsible to make an evaluation and add as many positives as possible, promptly, before our time on earth runs out. 

Of all creation, human beings are the only ones aware of abstract concepts such as transitoriness and eternity. While transitoriness seems easier to comprehend, eternity, we cannot even pretend to cognitively grasp. Therefore, human beings are afraid of death. 

Sigmund Freud, for example, talked about anxiety arising from a conflict between the “death instinct” (Thanatos) and the “life instinct” (Eros). (1) Viktor Frankl affirmed that he “…thought of death every day” as a finiteness in a physical and psychological sense, not in a spiritual sense. (2)  From an existential point of view, death is a point in time when pluses or minuses can no longer be added to our lives. What we have accomplished is what we have become. (3) 

The paradox of finiteness, according to Frankl, is that exactly the awareness of death makes life so precious. (4) Speaking of unavoidable suffering, tragedies, and the possibility of making the best of any situation, Frankl spoke of a “tragic optimism:” “…an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of the human potential which at its best always allows for: (1) turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; (2) deriving from guilt the opportunity to change oneself for the better; and (3) deriving from life’s transitoriness and incentive to take responsible action.” (4:129-130). 

Some people live a long life. Some do not. However, the chronological length of a life, according to Frankl, does not determine its meaningfulness. (4) If we live every day with our finiteness in mind, this helps us to use our freedom responsibly. Even if one had only a short life, the fact that they existed remains. No one and nothing can erase this fact. What they managed to give to the world, and what remains after them is independent of people’s memories, evaluation, or opinion. It belongs to eternal truth. (4) Therefore, Frankl said that, perhaps, having been the surest form of being, for in the granary of the past everything is safely stored, and no earthly power can rob it. (4) Thus, according to Frankl, facing our mortality, finiteness and vulnerability, instead of repressing or suppressing it, helps us to live responsibly. 

Addressing death anxiety, Elisabeth Kübler Ross remarked that “…our fears do not prevent death, they prevent life…Living in the present is living in love, not fear. That is our goal: Live in Love.” (5)  

Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel confront us with our finality and the responsibility to live so that we prosper the resources entrusted to us by being merciful, kind, generous, and compassionate—beyond precise calculation, explicit feeling, or perfect reason—trusting that what we thus give to the world will be exactly, totally, and fully accounted for. 

Jesus invites us to live with full elan, vitality, and zest. He demonstrates putting ourselves totally into what we give for the sake of the Kingdom. Following His example, when we love, we give according to what we received—not from the world, but from God. When we follow Jesus, we turn God’s love into a momentum to build a better world—To build His Kingdom on earth.

In his most recent address to young adults on August 21, 2015, Pope Leo XIVth stated that “In order to serve the living God, we must abandon the idolatry of profit, which has severely compromised justice, freedom of encounter and exchange, the participation of all in the common good and ultimately peace….Unarmed and disarming, the presence of Christians in contemporary societies must translate, with skill and imagination, the Gospel of the Kingdom into forms of development that provide alternatives to paths of growth without equity and sustainability.” (6) Like Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV believes that building the kingdom requires listening and dialogue. (6)

References

1. Freud, S. (1990). Beyond the Pleasure Principle. Translated by James Strachey and C. J. M. Hubback. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
2. Vesely-Frankl, A. (2024).  “Viktor and I.” Personal recollections by Dr. Frankl’s Grandson, Alexander Vesely Frankl.* Personal Communication. Webinar organized by the “Red International de Logoterapeutas.” Buenos Aires, Argentina. Organised by Prof. Dr. Roberto Juan Mucci. 
3. Frankl, V. E.; (2000). Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning. New York, NY: Basic Books.
4. Frankl, V. E. (2014). Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
5. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (2022). Personal Communication with Viktor Frankl, released by the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation, on July 2, 2022. Published by the Foundation Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Chile Nonprofit organization. Facebook group. Shared to Logotherapy-The Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy Facebook Group on September 5, 2025.
6. Wooden, C. (2025). Building God’s kingdom requires listening, dialogue, pope says. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved from: usccb.org. Accessed; September 16, 2025.