No servant can serve two masters
Published Nov 5, 2022 12:05 am
REFLECTIONS TODAY
Mammon — money — is a reliable servant, but a cruel master. As a servant, money can provide for our needs and free us from hunger and poverty. It can bring us comfort and allow us to enjoy luxuries in life. But as a master, money can turn into an idol as it blinds us to the allurements of this passing world. We can be fixated in earning money all the time, thus enslaving us and leaving us spiritually bankrupt. It is the person’s love for money, and not money in itself, which is the root of every evil (1 Tm 6:10). Jesus tells his disciples to make friends with worldly wealth even as he describes money as something totally unreliable.
To make friends with worldly wealth implies that we become responsible stewards of the blessings entrusted by God to us. The blessings we receive from God are meant not only for our well-being and that of our family members. We need to be wise and learn to share part of our blessings with our unfortunate brothers and sisters.
First Reading • Phil 4:10-19
Brothers and sisters: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that now at last you revived your concern for me. You were, of course, concerned about me but lacked an opportunity. Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient. I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things, I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.
You Philippians indeed know that at the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, not a single church shared with me in an account of giving and receiving, except you alone. For even when I was at Thessalonica you sent me something for my needs, not only once but more than once. It is not that I am eager for the gift; rather, I am eager for the profit that accrues to your account. I have received full payment and I abound. I am very well supplied because of what I received from you through Epaphroditus, “a fragrant aroma,” an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Gospel • Luke 16:9-15
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
Mammon — money — is a reliable servant, but a cruel master. As a servant, money can provide for our needs and free us from hunger and poverty. It can bring us comfort and allow us to enjoy luxuries in life. But as a master, money can turn into an idol as it blinds us to the allurements of this passing world. We can be fixated in earning money all the time, thus enslaving us and leaving us spiritually bankrupt. It is the person’s love for money, and not money in itself, which is the root of every evil (1 Tm 6:10). Jesus tells his disciples to make friends with worldly wealth even as he describes money as something totally unreliable.
To make friends with worldly wealth implies that we become responsible stewards of the blessings entrusted by God to us. The blessings we receive from God are meant not only for our well-being and that of our family members. We need to be wise and learn to share part of our blessings with our unfortunate brothers and sisters.
First Reading • Phil 4:10-19
Brothers and sisters: I rejoice greatly in the Lord that now at last you revived your concern for me. You were, of course, concerned about me but lacked an opportunity. Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient. I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things, I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.
You Philippians indeed know that at the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, not a single church shared with me in an account of giving and receiving, except you alone. For even when I was at Thessalonica you sent me something for my needs, not only once but more than once. It is not that I am eager for the gift; rather, I am eager for the profit that accrues to your account. I have received full payment and I abound. I am very well supplied because of what I received from you through Epaphroditus, “a fragrant aroma,” an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Gospel • Luke 16:9-15
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2022,” St. Pauls, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.