St. Charles Borromeo became Archbishop of Milan in the year 1564. One of his greatest contributions to the Church was reform. He encouraged people, including clergy, to move away from pursuing money or positions of honour and focus more truly on Christ.

It is perhaps fitting that today's Gospel is the story of a dishonest manager. The manager is aware that he is about to be fired and so works diligently to prepare for life after his current job. Is Jesus praising the manager for his corruption? No. Jesus praises him because the manager seizes the day. He acts now to prepare for his future.

St. Paul tells us today that our "citizenship is in heaven." Jesus exhorts us to act today in a way that leads to heaven.

There are many ways to do this. The most important is to keep Christ as the focus of our lives. Blessing comes when we spend some time with Jesus each day in prayer. As we do this, Jesus draws us closer to himself. He gradually affects what we say, what we do, what we decide. This change does not happen in a day; it is a process. Yet, it is a process that leads to heaven.