Saturday, June 18, 2005
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."
REFLECTION
Is Jesus presenting to us an unattainable ideal? Is he urging us to
take on ourselves a lifestyle that in modern society it's impossible
to live out? Not at all.
Jesus is condemning here neither the possession nor the use of money
and material things. How is a married couple, for instance, to
fulfill their obligations to their family without money?
Many people insist that the saying, "money is the root of all evil,"
is found in the Bible. It's not. Paul, however, in his letter to
Timothy, the young bishop in the early Church, does remark, "the love
of money is the root of all evil." "The love of money" and "money"
do not mean the same thing. Paul, after all, in today's first reading
thanks the Philippians for the financial support they have sent him.
It is not money that Jesus condemns, but the making of money into an
idol, a false god we worship, dedicating all our time and effort to
its pursuit, so lusting for it that its pursuit relegates to
secondary importance all else in our lives, all else - family,
friends, integrity, faith, even God himself.
As Jesus points out, God and material success cannot coexist in us as
equals. One, to the exclusion of the other, will exercise dominion
over us. It's impossible to keep the two in perfect balance. It's
true therefore that we cannot serve God and money. But it's quite
legitimate to make use of money in the service of God, to serve God
with money. The married couple has a religious duty to use money in
the support and development of their children.
In our world where materialism and consumerism are gods and
inordinately attractive and powerfully seductive idols, we constantly
have to question ourselves: do we make the acquisition of wealth a
goal in itself or a means to a higher goal?
PRAYER
"Lord, may the fire of your love burn in my heart that I may be
wholly devoted to you above all else. Free me from greed and
attachment to material things that I may be generous in using the
gifts and resources you give me for your glory and for the good of my
neighbor."
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."
REFLECTION
Is Jesus presenting to us an unattainable ideal? Is he urging us to
take on ourselves a lifestyle that in modern society it's impossible
to live out? Not at all.
Jesus is condemning here neither the possession nor the use of money
and material things. How is a married couple, for instance, to
fulfill their obligations to their family without money?
Many people insist that the saying, "money is the root of all evil,"
is found in the Bible. It's not. Paul, however, in his letter to
Timothy, the young bishop in the early Church, does remark, "the love
of money is the root of all evil." "The love of money" and "money"
do not mean the same thing. Paul, after all, in today's first reading
thanks the Philippians for the financial support they have sent him.
It is not money that Jesus condemns, but the making of money into an
idol, a false god we worship, dedicating all our time and effort to
its pursuit, so lusting for it that its pursuit relegates to
secondary importance all else in our lives, all else - family,
friends, integrity, faith, even God himself.
As Jesus points out, God and material success cannot coexist in us as
equals. One, to the exclusion of the other, will exercise dominion
over us. It's impossible to keep the two in perfect balance. It's
true therefore that we cannot serve God and money. But it's quite
legitimate to make use of money in the service of God, to serve God
with money. The married couple has a religious duty to use money in
the support and development of their children.
In our world where materialism and consumerism are gods and
inordinately attractive and powerfully seductive idols, we constantly
have to question ourselves: do we make the acquisition of wealth a
goal in itself or a means to a higher goal?
PRAYER
"Lord, may the fire of your love burn in my heart that I may be
wholly devoted to you above all else. Free me from greed and
attachment to material things that I may be generous in using the
gifts and resources you give me for your glory and for the good of my
neighbor."
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 4:23 PM 
