“And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.” // Luke 16:8
I knew all too well what this feeling was of being stiff and frozen in fear. The Lord had just revealed to me a part of my heart that I had overlooked in the last few months. He showed me how I had fallen yet again into that unhelpful habit of murmuring and complaining about even the smallest things. This was an old struggle, yet not something I had struggled with for a while. And now it was clear as day that the last several months I had murmured more under my breath than I had in the previous year.
It was frustrating. There was not much I could do to fix it and go back. And to be honest, I was so embarrassed—with myself, with the Lord, and to those to whom I was complaining. So in this moment of revelation, my heart froze and I did not know how to rid myself of this bad root in my heart, which was bearing a particularly bitter fruit. In many ways my own sin deeply humbled me like the steward in today’s Gospel (see Luke 16:1-8) and gave me a choice of further pouting or acting prudently. How I responded to this realization of my sin mattered more for my present choices than that I had sinned. And in that moment the Lord granted me much undeserved mercy to go forward in the way of blamelessness, thanking Him for allowing me to fall in order to help me further in humility.
Sister, I know all too well what it is like to sit frozen in fear and embarrassment when I have failed to uphold my call to sanctity. But I also know the freedom that comes from not letting fear hold me back from asking for God’s mercy and continuing to strive for virtue and holiness. May we have the grace today to be sincere and honest in our stewardship of our lives. And may we have the courage to humbly ask the Lord for help to continue towards virtue and holiness when we have been dishonest and imprudent in the stewardship to which He has entrusted us.
Mariana Pimiento is a Colombia-born storyteller and artist. She enjoys big dinners with her Colombian family, talking about Theology of the Body, and any chance for a bonfire. The preaching Dominican friars brought her back to the Catholic faith while a student in New York City. Mariana served several years as a FOCUS missionary and now continues college ministry work in Nashville. Find out more about her here.
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