Pick your master: God or mammon?

Listening to the Spirit

Dear Father,
You are the creative origin of all that I am
and of all, I am called to be.
With the talents and opportunities, I have,
how may I serve you best?
Please guide my mind and heart,
open me to the needs of my country and of the world,
And help me to choose wisely and practically
for your honor and glory
and for the good of all those whose lives I touch.

Amen

Listening to the Word

Lk 16: 1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 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 both God and mammon.”

Reflection

I remember the segment of one noontime show here in the Philippines “PERA O BAYONG.” The contestant needs to choose money or the one inside of a bag (“bayong”). The one inside the “bayong” varies. From house and lot to three eggs. But the contestant needs to choose. Either Pera or Bayong. There is a passage in the gospel this Sunday where we need to choose our master: God or mammon since Jesus said, “You cannot serve both God and mammon.” As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to choose either God and his kingdom or mammon. We cannot have both. Jesus does not like to be number two in your life (this would be unfair and unjust). He must be first in everything.

There are three “mammons” in our life:

Possessions: (perhaps) we need possessions in our journey as disciples of Jesus. But the possessions must not possess us. At the gate of heaven, we will not be asked how much money we have; instead, we will be asked how much money we spend on the needy.
Persons: People around us are gifts from God. They are blessings and God’s images here on earth. But we need to give priority to the giver of all gifts, who is God.
Plans: personal plans are very important because they are our compass to continue our journey but give priority to the laws of the creator of the universe.

Choose God because he is our real treasure, not perishable possessions. Always give preference to God, who is the giver of all gifts. Follow the law of God, not your personal schemes.