We continue our message series, "Right on the Money," and again we will be using a parable of Jesus, recalled in St. Luke's Gospel, to look at what Jesus teaches us about money.

In the first week we learned that Jesus wants us to get money right. He knows that it is a source of much negative emotions for us, so he wants us to get it right. The fundamental principle for getting money right according to Jesus is to renounce it. By "renounce" Jesus is not meaning to give all our money away, but rather making it a distant second compared to our relationship with God.

Last week we looked at the parable of the "Prodigal Son" but also looking at his older brother. That parable is for us since most of us have made mistakes with money sometime in our lives. While we may never have "squandered" our money like the younger son did (to "squander" is to waste money foolishly and short-sightedly), we may have been so focused on money and saving it that it damaged our relationship with someone; like the oldest son did in his relationship with his father. God is the the Father in the story, offering generous mercy and love to both of his sons, who are more important to him than any money.

This week we look at the parable of the "Dishonest Steward" who has been discovered squandering his master's money. Again, to squander is to spend foolishly and in a short-sighted manner. The steward, realizing his limitations and concerned with how he is going to support himself and his family, decides to "restructure" the debt that people owe his master. Basically he is giving his master's money away. 

The master discovers what the steward is doing, and instead of being angry, commends him for his prudence. It is VERY IMPORTANT to realize that the master is NOT commending him on being dishonest. Rather for being prudent. Prudence, when it comes to money, is basically the opposite of squandering. To be prudent is to use money carefully with an eye towards the future.

The lesson for us; the money that we have really does not belong to us. St. Paul says in one of his letters, "what do you have that has not been given to you?" Everything we have belongs to God, who entrusts it to us to be good stewards of. Put another way, we are God's money managers.

God does not want us to squander what he has entrusted to us. We should not be using the money and property we have just for the short-term. Rather we need to be thinking about our future, and I do not mean starting an IRA. I am talking about the real future -- eternal life. Jesus wants us to use what God has entrusted to us to invest in people, in helping them acheive their eternal destiny -- heaven. That means giving to charities, sure, but it also means looking at how we use our resources to bring ourselves and our families closer to God.

In the end "you cannot serve both God and mammon."