Pope: Use God’s gifts to create a more just and equitable world

By Christopher Wells

Sunday’s Gospel, Pope Leo said at the noon day Angelus, invites us to reflect on our use of material goods, and, in general, "how we administer the most precious good of all, our very life.”

Reflecting on the parable of the unjust steward, the Pope explained that his is an image that tells us “we are not the masters of our lives or of the goods we enjoy,” but that all we possess is gift from God, who entrusts these gifts “to our care, our freedom, and our responsibility.”

At the same time, Jesus’ parable reminds us that we will one day be called to give an account of how we have managed “ourselves, our possessions, and the earth’s resources.”

'The riches of this world are passing'

Pope Leo noted that the steward in the parable sought only his own profit, until the day came when he was called to account and lost his job.

Only then, when he had to consider how to secure his future, the Pope said, did he realize that accumulating wealth was not the highest value, “for the riches of this world are passing.”

His solution, to forgive the debtors by renouncing the portion due to himself, costs him material wealth, “but gains friends who will be ready to help and support him.”

Pope Leo then recalls Jesus’ exhortation to “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.”

True wealth: friendship with God and with one another

If the dishonest servant was able find a way to make friends, “leaving behind the solitude of his own selfishness,” the Pope asked, how much more must Christians “use the goods of this world and our very lives, with a view to true wealth, which is friendship with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters?”

Concluding his reflection, Pope Leo said the parable of the unjust steward invites us to ask ourselves how we are managing the goods we have received: Do we follow the path of selfishness, thinking only of ourselves? Or do we recognize everything as a gift from God, to be used to build a more just and equitable world?

“Let us pray to the Virgin Mary,” the Pope said, “that she may intercede for us and help us to be faithful stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to us, administering it with justice and responsibility.”