The children of this world are more astute than the children of light
Philippians 3:17—4:1
Luke 16:1-8
Today’s readings invite us to distinguish in life the things that really matter from those that are of secondary importance, and to use the transient to attain to our true destiny. In the first reading, Paul tells the Philippians that “Our homeland is heaven, and from heaven comes Christ who will transfigure these retched bodies of ours into copies of his own,” He warns those who take food as their gods and who take as important merely earthly things. The response to the Psalm: “I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house’”, does not merely refer to the earthly “house of the Lord”, the Jerusalem temple, or in our case, the church building. Rather, it refers to the true house of God, heaven, which should be our joy and longing. In the gospel, the Lord teaches us to be astute in heavenly matters the way the "children of this world" do in terrestrial affairs. The crafty servant is not praised for his dishonesty, but for his foresight. The moral of the story is that he had the wisdom to focus not on the present, but to use the present to secure the future.
For many people seeking asylum or refugee status in a more prosperous nation, it is a great thing to become a citizen. Many risk their lives to attain citizenship. Yet even the greatest among the citizens of this nation must soon or later die and give room to others. We can then appreciate why today’s readings urge us to long for our true and lasting citizenship in heaven.
For many of us, the desire and longing for heaven is obfuscated by the fear of what lies between, and that is the pain of death. We also know ourselves not to be so holy as to deserve to immediately e God, and the fear of the purification whose nature is also not clear to us can become a stumbling block. Yet the more we grow in the love of God, the more we get to know God’s loving mercy, and the greater the desire to be with God. The apostle John writes: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). While the love of God destroys fear, the love of neighbor “covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8) The moral is that we make ourselves many friends who will come to our aid in our hour of need.
