Gospel Reflection: Supernatural Prudence

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” Luke 16:8

These lines conclude the Parable of the Dishonest Steward. At that time, there was a Palastinian custom in which agents acted on behalf of a wealthier master’s money, making loans and obtaining them back with interest. It is similar to our modern banking system. The problem presented in this parable was that the steward was dishonest, skimming some of the profits for himself. As a result, the master told the steward to get his financial affairs in order because he was going to fire him. The shrewd steward, acting on the authority he still had for the moment, then went forth and reduced the debt of each of his master’s debtors so as to win favor with each of them so that he could do business with them after he was fired by his master.

Obviously, Jesus does not tell this parable because He approves of dishonest and shrewd deception in business practices. Instead, He tells it to illustrate the fact that many people who are motivated by selfishness and worldly goals use the natural gift of prudence with much more zeal than many of the “children of light.”

Think about your goals in life. If you were to make a list of your goals, what would it look like? And if you were to order that list according to the importance of those goals, what would be first? Hopefully, on the top of that list, you would have as your primary goal the love, service and glory of God. In the end, that is all that matters in life. Every other goal in life will fall into place when that is our central goal. 

However, if you were to order your list according to how much time, energy and prudence you put into each endeavor, how would it look? Would it look different? Most likely. Many people go about their lives putting a tremendous amount of time and effort into the passing things of this world. Many make their financial advancement the goal with which they spend the most time and energy. Others devote countless hours to hobbies, entertainment, home improvements, sports, and even wasteful activities such as binging on television. When it comes to the practice of the faith, it is a rare person who devotes a significant amount of time and energy to daily prayer, studying the Scriptures, learning the Catechism, and studying the lives of the saints. Many experience Sunday Mass as a burden. Charitable service can become undesirable. Many rarely work at the proclamation of the Gospel.

Though it is true that much of your time might need to be devoted to the ordinary duties of life, such as making a living and caring for the home and family, it is also true that most people need to reorder their priorities by making sure that the will of God is the central mission of their lives. How is this best accomplished? It begins with the virtue of prudence. Prudence is both a natural virtue and a supernatural one. On a natural level, prudence is called the “mother of all virtues” because it is the quality by which every other virtue, all our time and energy, goals and ambitions are directed. Prudence is the act of vigorously using our minds to creatively and zealously work to achieve the most important goals in life. Supernatural prudence is a spiritual gift by which our natural abilities of prudence are infused with the grace of God, and we are better equipped to know how to accomplish God’s will for our lives.

Reflect, today, upon what your list would look like if you were to make it honestly. What do you spend the most time and energy doing? Even if you need to spend most of your time on the ordinary aspects of life, this becomes a holy endeavor when you do it because God is inspiring you to do so. In that case, even the ordinary becomes grace-filled and becomes a way by which you glorify God. The only way for you to know if you are using your time and energies properly is by being open to the gift of supernatural prudence. Pray for that gift today and ask our Lord to more directly order your life so that everything you do is for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Lord, You are perfect Wisdom; You are Prudence Itself. Please flood my mind and will with Your divine presence and fill me with a desire to make Your perfect will the central mission of my life. Please help me to know how to order my days so that everything I do gives You glory and works toward the salvation of souls, beginning with my own. Jesus, I trust in You.