Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.  So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you?  Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.'  Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me?  I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.  I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.'  So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'  He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.'  He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.'  Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?'  He replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.'  He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.'  And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.  And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.  "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.  If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?  No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth."  The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him.  So he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.

At first glance this passage may seem confusing.  Jesus seems to hold the wily manager, who was skilled with money, up as an example.  But then he tells us you cannot serve God and money, and tells us that what man prizes (money, etc.) God abhors.  With the Holy Spirit's light may we understand what is being taught. 

We do not serve money when money serves us.  If we accumulate money as a prized possession we are its servant.  If we use money wisely, managing and distributing it according to God's will and insight, it becomes just another tool we use to fulfill God's purpose for our lives.  If we are unable to do this with mere paper, which serves no purpose after this life, how are we to expect God's graces, which are infinitely more valuable, to flow into our hearts?

Prove quickly and at once that you are completely detached from this world's goods - using them as mere dead tools to serve you for deeper ends - and the Lord will draw you deep into an interior life with him where he wishes ardently to give you true interior treasure from the unending storehouse of his wisdom.

Once you are drawn into that interior life of communion with God, jealously guard and use each of the daily graces he gives you.  If you are not faithful with the small graces (the opportunity to forgive another, for example) he cannot give you the greater graces.

May we quickly prove ourselves competent stewards of earthly goods so we can move beyond that stage and start proving ourselves capable stewards of the heavenly ones.