Listen to the voice of creation” 


Gospel  18, September 2022  Luke 16: 1-13

If we think that all of Jesus’ parables are pleasant stories about people of integrity, then perhaps today’s Gospel will make us think twice. In this story, a manager of a company is dismissed by his boss. He ponders how he can realistically secure his future with the resources he has. He thinks of the people who are having trouble paying their debts to the company. He is offering those debtors to make better arrangements in order to make indebted to him. He uses the power he still has to win their favor. In this way, he secures the future of these debtors – as well as his own. The manager is a bit of a rogue, but Jesus liked rogues when they are working for a good cause.
We are stewards of God’s creation. Where is our determination and creativity to secure our future?

Reflections:

Our own future is at stake
We are experiencing more and more dramatically how the consequences of climate change threaten our way of life. Rising energy- and food prices and high inflation are first and foremost felt by low-income earners when they can no longer pay the gas bill or afford good food. They are very worried about their future.

The future of future generations is at stake
Some elderly people may be inclined to think, ‘Well, I’ll probably be dead before it gets really bad.’ The younger generation knows that for them everything is at stake, and they take to the streets. Because their future is at stake, they get very creative and sometimes break laws like compulsory school attendance in order to draw the attention of an often-short-sighted policy to the long-term chances for a good life. Are we in solidarity, with the younger generation? What creative means are there for us to support them in this?

The future of all is at stake
In our country, a bad harvest means higher prices. In the countries of the South, crop failure means hunger. In the Horn of Africa, there has been a devastating drought for several years. 13 million people go hungry. People and animals are dying. People who see no chance of survival emigrate in search of a place to survive. Climate change is causing mass migration, resource conflicts and wars. The climate knows no borders. If forests everywhere, which produce the oxygen we breathe, dry out, are burnt down or cut down, the air will eventually become thin here too. Can we muster enough solidarity to think about the future of others and ours? This requires the creativity and radicality and solidarity of all. Greta Thunberg tells us: “Hope is found in action; if you want to find hope, look for action, then hope will come”.

Prayer

God, you have placed us in this wonderful world, and we look with gratitude at the work of your hands.

 But we often forget that we are not masters but part of creation
and must live responsibly in harmony with it. Help us to become sensitive
and ready to treat your work with respect and to act accordingly.