Friday of the
Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 15:14-21; Luke 16:1-8)
A group of pastors was discussing a gospel passage much like
the one we read today. The ministers
were taken aback by the implication that people should act out of self-interest. Is an action worthy, the ministers seemed to
ask themselves, if one gains personal benefit from it?
The ministers were questioning from the perspective of an imminent
Lutheran bishop, Anders Nygren.
Intolerant of self-love, Nygren drove a wedge between it and divine love. He termed acquisitive, human love eros and
selfless, divine love agape. According to Nygren, human love is always unworthy
of those redeemed by Christ. He would
see such an act as indicative of fallen human nature.
But Nygren’s thesis does not adequately account for how
humans are created. We are people with
real needs. Beyond physical necessities
we need support and assurance. Having a
destiny beyond the troubles of earthly life, we work for this end. This means that we strive for perfection out
of a desire for eternal life. Jesus’
parable tells of a man who takes risks so that he may not suffer in the
future. In like manner we love the poor,
God’s special concern. We do not want to
lose the eternal life which Christ promises us.
