In spite of being on the no call list, I continually get telemarketing calls on both my house phone and even my cell phone. How they get that number I have no idea. Recently it seems that everyone is offering a lower interest mortgage or a credit card for transferring high interest balances. While I have no need nor desire to take advantage of these offers, it nonetheless fascinates me that this seems to be a thriving business.
            Obviously it’s not something new to our times. In today’s gospel Jesus tells the parable about a wheeling and dealing steward. When he is caught by his master, he goes on to make even shadier deals with the master’s debtors. The master even commends him for his cleverness and his way of solving his problem.
            The first reading today from the Book of Amos the prophet likewise talks about how people swindle others, specifically the poor, in order to gain wealth for themselves: how people use other people to their own advantage
            But the message these readings is trying to convey has more to do with the ways of God than with the ways of the business world.  Jesus uses the opportunity to talk about true wealth…not the money we amass in life, but the way we hold onto and nurture what is truly valuable and what is lasting.
            The scriptures tell us over and over again that the way to real treasure in life rests in the way we live our lives for one another: with compassion and understanding; generosity of spirit and  the willingness to go the extra step. We see these characteristics in the ministry of Jesus and we know that He was the perfect model for all of us.
            As we go forth into each day, let us try to pursue what is truly valuable about life and grasp a hold of the treasure that lasts into eternity.