Agents, Managers and Stewards

Homily for Saturday in the 6th Week of Easter

Movie stars and athletes have agents. Basically, an agent is someone who does the negotiating and the leg work in securing a contract for the star or the athlete.

Wealthy people have accountants and managers. The managers handle the day to day realities of maintaining properties and estates.

We have been introduced to men who are called stewards in the Gospel. The wealthy men of those times shared their wealth with the less fortunate in order to garner an honorable place in society. However, they could not be bothered to deal with the poor themselves. They needed an intermediary.

Agents, managers, stewards and accountants all have basically the same position. They are go-betweens. They handle the details.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples that his days as an intermediary between His Father and his disciples is coming to an end. He will send the Holy Spirit to take his place, but the Spirit will simply teach them that they can go directly to the Father. They won’t need an intermediary because the Father loves them as he loves Jesus. By granting us the Holy Spirit, the life force that holds and communicates the love between Jesus and the Father, we will enjoy a similar relationship with God.

Throughout the Gospels and the writings of St. Paul, we have been told to ask, to seek, and to knock. God is ready and more than willing to give us what we need and that for which we ask. Whatever we ask for will be granted us unreservedly and without any conditions. Our prayers are not only heard but listened to as well.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator