The steward accused of wasting his lord's goods

St Luke Chapter XVI : Verses 1-8

Contents

• Luke xvi. Verses 1-8.  Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate)
• Douay-Rheims 1582 text
• Annotations based on the Great Commentary

Luke xvi. Verses 1-8.

Give an account of thy stewardship...
A.N. Mironov, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

1 And he said also to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods.

Dicebat autem et ad discipulos suos : Homo quidam erat dives, qui habebat villicum : et hic diffamatus est apud illum quasi dissipasset bona ipsius.

2 And he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst be steward no longer.

Et vocavit illum, et ait illi : Quid hoc audio de te? redde rationem villicationis tuae : jam enim non poteris villicare.

3 And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed.

Ait autem villicus intra se : Quid faciam? quia dominus meus aufert a me villicationem. Fodere non valeo, mendicare erubesco.

4 I know what I will do, that when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

Scio quid faciam, ut, cum amotus fuero a villicatione, recipiant me in domos suas.

5 Therefore calling together every one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: How much dost thou owe my lord?

Convocatis itaque singulis debitoribus domini sui, dicebat primo : Quantum debes domino meo?

6 But he said: An hundred barrels of oil. And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

At ille dixit : Centum cados olei. Dixitque illi : Accipe cautionem tuam : et sede cito, scribe quinquaginta.

7 Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: An hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill, and write eighty.

Deinde alii dixit : Tu vero quantum debes? Qui ait : Centum coros tritici. Ait illi : Accipe litteras tuas, et scribe octoginta.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.

Et laudavit dominus villicum iniquitatis, quia prudenter fecisset : quia filii hujus saeculi prudentiores filiis lucis in generatione sua sunt.

Douay-Rheims : 1582 text

1. AND he ſaid to his Diſcipels: There was a certaine rich man that had a bailife: & he was il reported of vnto him, as he that had waſted his goods.

2. And he called him, and ſaid to him: What heare I this of thee? render account of thy bailiſhip: for now thou canſt no more bailife.
3. And the bailife ſaid within him ſelf: What ſhal I doe, becauſe my Lord taketh away from me the bailiſhip? dig I am not able, to beg I am aſhamed.
4. I know what I wil doe, that when I ſhal be remoued from the bailiſhip, they may receiue me into their houſes.
5. Therfore calling together euery one of his Lords debters, he said to the first: How much doeſt thou owe my Lord?
6. But he ſaith: An hundred pipes of oile. And he ſaid to him: Take thy bil and ſit downe, quickly write fiftie.
7. After that he ſaid to an other: But thou, how much doeſt thou owe? Who ſaid: An hundred quarters of wheat. He ſaid to him: Take thy bil, and write eightie.
8. And the Lord praiſed the bailife of iniquitie, because he had done wiſely: for the children of this world, are wiſer then the children of light in their generation.

 

Annotations

    1. And he said also to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. Having rebuked in three parables those who murmured because He received penitents, Christ now adds a fourth and fifth on almsgiving and frugality, for the proud and avaricious Pharisees refused both pardon to the penitent, and relief to those who were in want. Gloss.

    to his disciples, i.e. His hearers, those who were His followers, although they had not given up all, as the Apostles.

    a steward, οἰκονόμος, one who had the management of his master’s property, and was answerable for the letting of his land.

    Hence we learn “that we are not masters of what we possess, but rather stewards of that which is another’s.” S. Ambrose and Theophylact.

    For although as regards men we are the absolute masters of our own possessions, yet with respect to God, who is Lord over all, we are but stewards. Because, whatever we possess was given us for our own moderate use and for the relief of our poorer brethren, and in the day of judgment we shall have to render a strict account of our stewardship.

    So S. Paul says, “Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God.  Here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful.” 1 Cor. iv. 1-2. For all our gifts and endowments are not our own, but belong to God who gave them. Hence we are bound to use them not for our own pleasure, but according to His will. Thou hast genius, a keen judgment, a retentive memory, wisdom, eloquence, or the like! Forget not that thou art a steward of these gifts, not a master. Remember that thou hast to give an account of their use, and take heed to use them to the honour and glory of God. Hear S. Chrysostom, “There is an erroneous opinion that all the good things of this life which we possess are our own, and that we are lords over them. But we are as it were guests and strangers, whose departure draweth nigh, and dispensers of another’s bounty. We ought therefore to assume the humility and modesty of a steward, for nothing is our own, but all things are the gift of God.”

was accused , διεβλήθη, denounced, Arabic. Hence the devil διάβολος, is called the “accuser” (Rev. xii.10), because he accuses us before God. “We are accused,” says the Interlinear, “not only when we do evil, but when we omit to do good.” For a steward ought to omit nothing which concerns his own duty or his master’s good.

    had wasted his goods., i.e. by carelessness and riotous living.

    2. And he called him, and said to him: How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship, i.e. of how much thou hast received and how thou hast expended it, for thou mayest be no longer steward.

    So Christ saith unto every one in the hour of death, “Give an account of thy stewardship. Give an account of thy life, of thy goods, and of thy talents, whether thou hast used them to promote the glory of God and the salvation of thyself and thy fellow-men.”

    Climacus relates that a monk, who was afterwards abbot, saw in a dream, the first night he entered the monastery, certain men who demanded of him the payment of one hundred pounds of gold. Whereupon for the space of three years he gave himself up to obedience and mortification, and at the end of that time was told that ten pounds had been subtracted from his debt. for thirteen years longer he continued to practise still greater austerities, and then messengers were sent from God to say that all his debt was forgiven. The same writer has also something terrible to say about the abbot Stephen, who had for forty years lived a holy life of fasting and prayer. This man, the day before he died, fell into a trance, and was heard as if in colloquy with an unseen judge, denying at one time the accusations against him, at another time pleading guilty to the charges, and praying for mercy. Terrible indeed was the spectacle of this invisible and stern judgment.

    3. And the steward said within himself: What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? To dig I am not able; to beg I am ashamed. The steward acknowledges the justice of the accusation. He had wasted his master’s goods, henceforward he must labour or beg for his living. The one thing he was unable, and the other he was ashamed to do. In his distress, he knows not which way to turn. Truly, St. Chrysostom says, “A slothful life is powerless in action.” Symbolically, when life is past, no compunction can, as it were by digging, prepare the soul for fruit; whilst to beg, after the manner of the foolish virgins, is not only disturbing, but vain and useless. Gloss.

   4. I know what I will do, that when I shall be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. I will give each one of my lord’s debtors a bond to show that they owe less than they are actually indebted, so that in return for my kindness and dishonesty, they may entertain me when I am deprived of my stewardship.

    5. and 6.—How much dost thou owe my lord? But he said: An hundred barrels of oil. . Greek βάτος in the Vulgate cadus, the tenth part of an homer. Levit. xxvii. 16, and Ezek. xlv. 11.

    And he said to him: Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty.  Greek γράμμα, i.e. “cautio” or bond, or as the Vulgate renders it “obligatio.” The meaning is, “Take back thy bond, wherein thou didst acknowledge that thou owest one hundred measures of oil. Tear it up and write another, confessing to a debt of fifty only, and divide the other fifty between me and thee.”

   7. Then he said to another: And how much dost thou owe? Who said: An hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill, and write eighty. The κόρος which was the same size as the homer, contained ten ephahs. See Ezek. xlv. 11.

    “To me,” says S. Augustine (Quæst. Evang. Lib. ii. 34), “the meaning of the passage seems this; that whatever the Jews do for the priests and Levites, should be more liberally provided for in the Church; that whereas they give a tenth, Christians should give a half, as Zaccheus gave, not of his crops, but of his goods; or at least that they should give two tenths, and thus exceed the payments of the Jews.”

   8. And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. The landlord, not the Lord Jesus, as Erasmus holds. The lord praised not the action, for it was dishonest, but the prudence, the cunning craft of the steward, just as we often admire, not indeed a crime, but the cleverness shown in contriving it.

    The children of this world are in their generation, i.e. after their kind, in worldly matters, or as Himmel understands it, amongst their fellow-men, wiser than the children of light, i.e. than those who are followers of Christ. Very wisely has some one said, “In worldly matters we are philosophers, as to our spiritual affairs, fools; in earthly things we are lynx-eyed, but in heavenly we are moles.”

    The children of this world, says S. Augustine (Lib. ii. de Genesi) are wiser in providing for their future; and very naturally so, because the desire of earthly pleasure and enjoyment is strong in man, but the aspirations of his soul are blunted and weakened, partly because of the body, partly from love of earthly things. Hence those that are led by the flesh are more active and energetic than those who are led by the spirit, inasmuch as spiritual things, being invisible, produce but little effect on the minds of men.

    The parable was directed against the avarice of the Pharisees. We are taught by it to use our riches not for our own selfish ends, but for the relief of our poorer brethren. For Christ bids us all remember that we are but stewards of God’s good gifts, and therefore bound to use them so that we may give a good account of our stewardship, and obtain our due reward. In this sense the unjust steward is held up as an example, and not because of his injustice and fraud.

    Hence S. Augustine, as already referred to, considers that Christ reasons thus, “If this steward could so wisely provide for this life, much more ought we to be solicitous for the life to come.” And again, “If this steward, unjust as he proved himself to be, was praised for his wisdom, much more shall we receive praise of God, if by our almsgiving we injure none, but benefit many.” And he goes on to say, “If a wrongdoer received praise from his lord, how much more pleasing are they to the Lord God, who do all in accordance with His will. So from the parable of the unjust judge Christ took occasion to speak of God as judge, although between the two no comparison was possible.”

    We learn then from this parable (1.) That those who are possessed of riches, or any other gift of God, such as health, intellect, and the like, are but stewards of His bounty. (2.) That every one is bound to use his possessions to the honour and glory of God. (3.) And that every one at the day of judgment will have to give account, not only for the sins which he has committed, but also for duties which he has neglected to perform. Such is the general meaning of the parable. 

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.