原文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，在今天的福音中，我们读到一个明智事主的精明管家。我想谈谈精明和智慧。在中世纪，人们把精明叫做“美德之后”，因为精明的人能随机应变。
 

精明是对道德情况的感知，就像四分卫在橄榄球场上的领导功能一样。正直是一种优秀的美德，但若没有精明的指导，就会陷于盲目，落得一无是处的下场。一个人可以非常正直，但若对身处的现状缺乏感知，那么正直的美德对他来说没有好处。
 

不像精明，智慧是对大局的感悟，就像在高峰俯瞰一样。我们大多数人都从个人利益的角度来看待人生。但智慧是能够从天主那种高远的角度来俯视现实。没有智慧，即使是最精明的判断也会是错误的、目光短线的、不足的。
 

因此，精明和智慧的结合是尤为强劲的。既精明又有智慧的人不仅能顾全大局还能洞悉现状。
 

Friends, in today's Gospel we meet a prudent steward who serves his master wisely. I would like to say something about prudence and wisdom. In the Middle Ages, prudence was called "the queen of the virtues," because it was the virtue that enabled one to do the right thing in a particular situation.
 

Prudence is a feel for the moral situation, something like the feel that a quarterback has for the playing field. Justice is a wonderful virtue, but without prudence, it is blind and finally useless. One can be as just as possible, but without a feel for the present situation, his justice will do him no good.
 

Wisdom, unlike prudence, is a sense of the big picture. It is the view from the hilltop. Most of us look at our lives from the standpoint of our own self-interest. But wisdom is the capacity to survey reality from the vantage point of God. Without wisdom, even the most prudent judgment will be erroneous, short-sighted, inadequate.
 

The combination, therefore, of prudence and wisdom is especially powerful. Someone who is both wise and prudent will have both a sense of the bigger picture and a feel for the particular situation.