Goals are to be achieved by way of helpful means. St Paul says today that he carries out his priestly duty by bringing the Good News from God to the pagans. However, he makes it an unbroken rule never to preach where Christ's name has already been heard. His goal is clear: to bring the Good News to those who have never heard it and not to duplicate it. He has preached Christ's Good News to the utmost of his capacity with whatever means that are helpful to the goal.

The goal of the dishonest steward is also clear; that is, he uses his wits to figure out a way to manipulate money to secure his future. He uses means to achieve this goal. According to Jesus in this parable, the master praises the dishonest steward for his astuteness, that is, his use of means to achieve his purpose. The master values the steward's imagination, energy and commitment rather than his dishonesty. "Astute" means wisely using one's powers of judgment to make a situation appear favourable.

Therefore, as children of the light, can we go beyond the practice of the children of this world who are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light? We are called to have hard heads and soft hearts, not soft heads and hard hearts. The goal must be clear, and the ways to reach this goal must be suitable and helpful.