In today’s first reading, we hear the prophet Amos declaring that God sees the dishonest behavior of some of the merchants of his time, and that God will not forget. Then in the Gospel from Luke we hear the parable of the rich master and his dishonorable steward, who in the end is rewarded by his master for his ingenuity; when confronted by his master concerning his dishonest practices, he ingratiates himself to his master’s debtors so that they will help him when he loses his job. Jesus then gives three lessons from His parable. Paraphrasing the first, He instructs His disciples (and us) that we must work as hard at spreading the Gospel as the dishonorable steward did to ensure his well-being.  The second lesson is more obvious and speaks to a person’s character; a person who is trustworthy (or not) in small matters will act the same way in large matters.  Finally, the third lesson is that God must come first; we cannot be totally committed to God and God’s plans and be totally committed to worldly pursuits. God must always come first.  

Taking all this together, the lessons should give us a plan for how to live. God must come first; it’s not enough to attend Mass once/week and then ignore God the rest of the time. We must do all we can to keep God and His works at the forefront of our lives always. Daily prayer (including praying for those whom we disagree with or dislike), reading the Word, and working diligently to bring the Gospel to those we meet…these things demonstrate to God and others that we are putting Him first.  And these acts must be genuine, for God knows what is in our hearts, and as Amos said in the first reading, God will not forget. Simply going through the motions, as the dishonest merchants in the first reading seem to be doing, won’t cut it.