ONE of my great mentors in the seminary taught me and my peers not only to be holy but also to be prudent, not in the sense of acquiring a great deal of knowledge on theology but in having practical wisdom of dealing with personal matters and pastoral ministry.
For example, whereas the general norm of priestly ministry is to be available at all times to others who are in need, which is in line with the age old priestly decorum of being “a man for others”, he advised us not always to say “yes” to people’s request for our time, but to say “no”. At the outset, we did not understand this piece of wisdom of saying “no”, but when he explained its rationale to us, we agreed to it.
He explained that saying “no” will allow us to say “yes” in our commitment to serve the people of God. If we always say “yes” to every person’s request for help to the extent of sacrificing our personal time for prayer and rest, then we could not be effective ministers of Jesus Christ. Saying “no” in order to take care of our spiritual and physical health is a prudent way of being good stewards of our calling and our lives.
Indeed, Jesus, himself, manifested this attitude. When a multitude of people kept coming to him for help, after long days of ministry of preaching and healing, he urged his disciples to go away with him to a deserted place to pray and rest. Jesus had to say “no” at that moment of the day to take care of his own need for prayer and rest in order to say “yes” to thousands of people who would be coming to him for help on the next day.
Truly, there are advices from other mentors on managing one’s life that are effective, productive, and most of all, prudent. One is the wisdom of being quiet, of being careful of what we say in public or with others in community that may affect our reputation. Another one is the wisdom of not wasting our time with a few negative people and their views, which otherwise will limit our productivity and creativity with our work in the community. Another is planning and saving for one’s retirement in order not to be a burden to one’s family and to the society.
Absolutely, Jesus wants us not just to be holy but to be prudent. In the Gospel this Sunday on the Parable of the Dishonest Steward, Jesus does not esteem the dishonest dealing of the steward for asking the servants to lessen in writing what they owe his master, but admires his prudence. The steward is concerned with his personal salvation. He knows that he would be fired from his job after his master learned that he squandered his master’s property. And so, he does the wise thing of giving the servants the favor of lessening their debts to the master. Not only will he receive help from the servants when he loses his job, he might regain his position after his master receives the servants’ loyalty and admiration for his seeming grandiose generosity!
There is one fundamental wisdom that we all need to have, which bespeaks of the Gospel this Sunday. Let’s not just invest in physical matters; let’s invest in the most important matter: our personal salvation, our sure place in heaven!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].