In the Gospel of Luke 16:1–13, Jesus gives us the puzzling parable of the dishonest steward. Faced with losing his position, the steward acts shrewdly, reducing the debts of his master’s clients so that they might welcome him later. At first glance, it seems strange that Jesus highlights the actions of someone who was wasteful and dishonest. Yet the Lord does not praise dishonesty, but rather the steward’s ability to prepare with foresight for what was coming. The question for us is whether we show the same wisdom and energy in preparing for eternal life, or whether we remain attached to the securities of this world. Jesus ends with words that echo through every age: “No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and wealth.”

The Carmelite saints offer us a way of entering into this Gospel with clarity and depth. Saint Teresa of Jesus, who knew well the dangers of attachment, insists that what blinds us is not wealth itself but the clinging of the heart. She wrote that “all the harm comes from not keeping our eyes fixed on You, Lord.” The steward sought security in others’ houses, but Teresa calls us to find true safety only in God’s house. Saint John of the Cross, with his radical teaching on detachment, reminds us that only when the heart is free can it be filled with God. “To come to possess all,” he says, “desire the possession of nothing.” The Gospel invites us to recognize that our deepest treasure is not found in what we own, but in the freedom to give ourselves wholly to the Lord. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus adds her gentle but powerful witness. For her, the path to God is not in great deeds or clever maneuvers, but in little acts of love. Even the smallest use of our time or possessions, when offered in love, becomes wealth in heaven.

Blessed Francisco Palau y Quer, a son of Carmel who lived in the nineteenth century, gives us another light for this Gospel. For him, the mystery of the Church was central: he experienced the Church as the Bride of Christ, and he lived his life as a mission of love for her. In his writings, he expressed it simply: “My mission is love, and my love is the Church.” Palau teaches us that everything entrusted to us—talents, possessions, and opportunities—finds its meaning when it is placed at the service of the Church, who is both mystical communion and concrete reality. To misuse resources selfishly is to betray the Bride; to spend them in love for her members, especially the poor and forgotten, is to be a faithful steward.

This Gospel therefore calls us to examine how we are managing what God has entrusted to us. Do we cling to resources as our security, or do we risk them in love? Do we serve two masters, God and wealth, or do we live with a single-hearted devotion to the Lord? Jesus is not asking us to be passive, but to be creative and wise in using every gift for the building of his Kingdom. The Carmelite tradition shows us that freedom of heart, detachment from worldly gain, and fidelity in little things are the foundation of such stewardship. Palau pushes us to live that freedom concretely in love for the Church, where God is loved in his people.

In the end, the dishonest steward acted to secure his own future. Jesus calls us to act with even greater foresight, but not for self-preservation—rather for eternal communion. The choice is laid before us with sharp clarity: either God is our Master, or wealth is. If we let God be our Master, then everything we have, from the smallest gesture to the greatest gift, becomes a channel of love, an offering that builds communion and stores up treasure in heaven.

Let us therefore pray: Lord Jesus, You are the true Master. Free my heart from the slavery of wealth and self-interest. With Teresa, help me to keep my eyes always fixed on You. With John, teach me the path of detachment. With Thérèse, let me offer You the little things of daily life. And with Francisco Palau, may I love You in the Church, Your Bride. Make me a faithful steward of all You entrust to me, for the glory of Your Kingdom. Amen.