Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27
Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 10-11
Luke 16:9-15
Summary
Jesus advises his disciples and the Pharisees that a person
who is trustworthy is trustworthy in all things and that a ser-
vant cannot serve two masters, specifically one cannot serve both God and
“mammon” (
material
or
.
Jesus also chastises the Pharisees by responding to their sneers with the
words “…God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomi-
nation in the sight of God."
Reflection
Who is my Master?
Whenever I read a gospel like this, I think to myself, this certainly does not
apply to me. I don’t “love” money, I rarely even have any. I’ve never been
particularly impressed by name brands or fancy labels, expensive cars or big
homes and I’ve always admired those saints (like Francis and Ignatius) who
eschewed the wealth of the families
they came from and took up the mantle
of poverty. But then, I catch myself, I
don’t think Jesus Christ is just talking
about money in this passage. I believe
he is really talking about whatever it is
that we make most important in our
lives. For too long in my life, I had
false gods and frankly it didn’t work
very well for me. I thought other peo-
ple would “save me”, but there is only
one Savior. Sometimes it is easy to
make those we love into “false gods”.