Meaning of The Crooked Steward of Luke 16?

[desrochers]

My daughter and I were discussing the parable of the crooked steward in Lk 16. She was confused by it, and I think, rightly so. It’s not a clear an example of how to live life as are most parables.

Does it imply that we can somehow improve our eternal outlook by craftily using our worldly power and wealth for self-serving purposes?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

According to the New American Bible’s commentary:

The parable of the dishonest steward has to be understood in the light of the Palestinian custom of agents acting on behalf of their masters and the usurious practices common to such agents. The dishonesty of the steward consisted in the squandering of his master’s property (Lk 16:1) and not in any subsequent graft. The master commends the dishonest steward who has forgone his own usurious commission on the business transaction by having the debtors write new notes that reflected only the real amount owed the master (i.e., minus the steward’s profit). The dishonest steward acts in this way in order to ingratiate himself with the debtors because he knows he is being dismissed from his position (Lk 16:3). The parable, then, teaches the prudent use of one’s material goods in light of an imminent crisis.

[16:8b–9] The first conclusion recommends the prudent use of one’s wealth (in the light of the coming of the end of the age) after the manner of the children of this world, represented in the parable by the dishonest steward.

[16:10–12] The second conclusion recommends constant fidelity to those in positions of responsibility.

[16:13] The third conclusion is a general statement about the incompatibility of serving God and being a slave to riches. To be dependent upon wealth is opposed to the teachings of Jesus who counseled complete dependence on the Father as one of the characteristics of the Christian disciple (Lk 12:22–39). God and mammon: see note on Lk 16:9. Mammon is used here as if it were itself a god.