"Who, Then, is a Faithful and Prudent Steward?"

Sunday Mass Readings

I heard an interview over the radio on BBC yesterday. Dr. William Halbert is one of those rare scientists who is also a convinced Christian. He is on the National Bioethics Committee and communicates with the Vatican regularly on issues involving medical research. Although not a Catholic, he has deep respect and appreciation for the Catholic Church’s rational perspective on moral matters. Dr. Halbert has been trying to reconcile two seemingly competing points of view. As a Christian, Dr. Halbert is convinced that the use for embryos for stem cell applications is a violation of human dignity. “We should not turn procreation into production,” he says. On the other hand, as a scientist, he in committed to creating stem cells that can be harvested through cells that are not embryonic. In fact, according to Dr. Halbert, the use of non embryonic stem cells is successful on rats and it won’t be too long before this scientific breakthrough is available for human application. Dr. Halbert is an accomplished scientist. But there is a one crucial difference between him and many others – he is a “Christian” scientist. Today’s readings pose a challenge to us. They challenge us to live lives a certain way. They challenge us to live life with a specific perspective. They provide no room for ambiguity. A Christian life is got to be essentially Christian. In this homily we are going to discover what the Christian perspective on life is.

Let us begin with the first reading from the book of Wisdom. It is really strange that the book of wisdom should have something to say about the Exodus event. The main message of the book of Wisdom, especially, beginning with Chapter 18, is that the misfortunes of the Egyptians during Exodus should be not interpreted as God’s favoritism, but rather, as lessons in life. It suggests that, by the defeat of Egypt, Israel should learn virtue and its responsibilities that emerged from its election by God. The Exodus event was meant to educate Israel in the lessons of life. The Exodus event was really Israel’s class room. Because of the Exodus event, Israel was meant to live with a divine perspective.

Today’s three practical implications

The second reading from the letter to the Hebrews and the gospel reading from Luke give us three perspectives. Let us call this the Christian perspectives from which a Christian must live his or her life.

First, Like Abraham, Christian life must be lived in faith. By faith, the author of the letter to the Hebrews is not referring to the diluted meaning of faith i.e., mere belief in a higher being. Faith is defined as “the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Faith is living life from the divine perspective. Faith is living human life from God’s point of view. Dr. Halbert did not become a Christian scientist by accident. During the final years of medical school, Halbert’s child was born with serious brain damage. Unable to fulfill the demands of, both, a seriously sick child and medical school, he turned to theology. He wanted to understand, in his words, “the mystery of life.” An event which would generally turn most people away from God, surprisingly, turned Dr. Halbert toward God. From the larger perspective of faith, this experience made Dr. Halbert a Christian scientist. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” A Christian perspective specifically means that we live life with God’s vision, like Abraham did and life Dr. Halbert lives.

Second, in the first half of the gospel reading, God calls us to be vigilant. In his interview, Dr. Halbert quoted a metaphor that G. K Chesterton used. Chesterton writes about a groups of little boys playing soccer on a small field. At the edge of this field on all four sides is a cliff. The boys play but they play rather unsafely. Now imagine that someone puts a fence on all four sides in such a way that no one can fall off the cliff. That would make the boys safer, the game more enjoyable and life a little more secure. In the same way that fences provided safety, in the Scriptures and in the teaching of the church we have safety nets. To step outside these fences is to step on a slippery slope. And once we step on the slippery slope, it is a slippery slope. When Jesus asks us to be vigilant, he is asking us to refrain from being casual libertarians. God has made his will known and to live life within the boundary of God’s will is to live life with the assurance of salvation.

Third, through the parable of the faithful and prudent servant in the second half of the gospel, Jesus tells his followers that we must live prudent lives. In the Catholic tradition, along with fortitude, justice and temperance, prudence is one of the cardinal virtues. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines prudence as the virtue that “disposes practical reason to discern our true good in very circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it.” It says “the prudent person looks where he is going” (CCC 1806). According to Jesus, a prudent person is one “who the master will on arrival find doing” what the Master has willed him to do. This is the crucial difference between the prudent person and a imprudent person. The prudent person does not allow life to happen to him/her; a prudent person makes life happen. A prudent person has a vision, a goal in life that leads him/her to the Master’s table. What are we doing with our talents, our wealth, our life? Dr. Halbert is a classic example of a faithful and prudent steward.

Our Eucharist every Sunday is a banquet at which the Master and we participate. Let this coming week be such that we can come back to this banquet next week and the Master can say to us, “Well done, my faithful and prudent steward.” Amen.

Fr. Satish Joseph