From: Philippians 4:10-19
Thanks for Help Received
[14] Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. [15] And you Philippians your-
selves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church
entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only; [16] for
even in Thessalonica you sent me help once and again. [17] Not that I seek the
gift; but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit. [18] I have received full
payment, and more; I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you
sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. [19] And
my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ
Jesus.
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Commentary:
10-20. Gratitude is a very characteristic feature of Christian life; in this passage
we can see the noble soul of St Paul, ever appreciative of any sign of affection
and thoughtfulness.
It also shows what great confidence St Paul had in the Philippians; from them
alone did he accept help, for his general policy was not to accept material aid so
as to leave no one in any doubt about the purity of his intentions in preaching the
Gospel (cf. 1 Cor 9:18; 2 Cor 12:14-18). This meant that he was also practicing
the virtue of poverty, being content with what he had.
Financial resources do make a person’s life easier and by helping us meet our
material needs they allow us to cultivate friendship with God and go to the help of
others, but these resources are not an end in themselves; they are only a means.
Therefore there is nothing essentially bad about not having money or property: one
can get to heaven without them. However, if a person is well-to-do and is attached
to his wealth, that is bad. That is what St Paul is saying. “If you want to be your
own masters at all times, I advise you to make a very real effort to be detached
from everything, and to do so without fear or hesitation. Then, when you go about
your various duties, whether personal, family or otherwise, make honest use of
legitimate human resources with a view to serving God, his Church, your family,
your profession, your country, and the whole of mankind. Remember that what
really matters is not whether you have this or lack that, but whether you are living
according to the truth taught us by our Christian faith, which tells us that created
goods are only a means, nothing more. So, do not be beguiled into imagining that
they are in any way definitive” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 118).
13. “In him who strengthens me”: the proposition “in” often refers to the place
“where”, in which case the text would mean that the person who lives in Christ,
who is identified with him, can do all things. However, in biblical Greek it frequent-
ly has a causal meaning, in which case the Apostle would be saying that he can
do all things because God lends him his strength.
The difficulties which can arise in apostolic work or in one’s search for personal
holiness are not an insuperable obstacle, for we can always count on God’s sup-
port. So, we need to let ourselves be helped; we need to go to the Lord whenever
we are tempted or feel discouraged (”Thou art the God in whom I take refuge”:
Ps 43:2), humbly recognizing that we need his help, for we can do nothing on our
own. St Alphonsus encourages us always to put our trust in God: “The proud per-
son relies on his strength and he falls; but the humble person, who puts all his
trust in God, holds his ground and does not succumb, no matter how severely
he is tempted” (”The Love of God Reduced to Practice”, 9).
“I have asked you”, St. Escriva says, “to keep on lifting your eyes up to heaven
as you go about your work, because hope encourages us to catch hold of the
strong hand which God never ceases to reach out to us, to keep us from losing
our supernatural point of view. Let us persevere even when our passions rear up
and attack us, attempting to imprison us within the narrow confines of our selfish-
ness; or when puerile vanity makes us think we are the center of the universe. I
am convinced that unless I look upward, unless I have Jesus, I shall never accom-
plish anything. And I know that the strength to conquer myself and to win comes
from repeating that cry, ‘I can do all things in him who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13),
words which reflect God’s firm promise not to abandon his children if they do not
abandon him” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 213).
17-19. Using a metaphor taken from commercial life, the Apostle gives us an in-
sight into the value of generosity. He is not asking the Philippians for donations:
he can survive without them; he is seeking the good that will redound to them
on account of their almsgiving (cf. v. 17): and, given their own limited financial
resources, they are in fact being particularly generous (cf. 2 Cor 8:2).
Since God is the one who rewards men for their actions, then clearly a person
who gives alms ultimately benefits more than he who receives alms. As a reward
for their almsgiving the Philippians will receive nothing less than the eternal glory
won for us by Christ Jesus. And so St Leo the Great recommends that “whoever
gives alms should do so with detachment and joy, for the less he keep back for
himself, the greater will be his gain” (”Tenth Lenten Sermon”).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Luke 16:9-15
The Unjust Steward (Continuation)
[10] “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is
dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. [11] If then you have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true
riches? [12] And if you had not been faithful in that which is another’s, who
will give you that which is your own? [13] No servant can serve two masters;
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the
one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
[14] The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed
at Him. [15] But He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before
men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomi-
nation in the sight of God.”
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Commentary:
9-11. “Unrighteous mammon” means temporal good which have been obtained
in some unjust, unrighteous way. However, God is very merciful: even this un-
just wealth can enable a person to practice virtue by making restitution, by pa-
ying for the damage done and then by striving to help his neighbor by giving
alms, by creating work opportunities, etc. This was the case with Zacchaeus,
the chief tax collector, who undertook to restore fourfold anything he had un-
justly taken, and also to give half his wealth to the poor. On hearing that, our
Lord specifically declared that salvation had that day come to that house (cf.
Luke 19:1-10).
Our Lord speaks out about faithfulness in very little things, referring to riches
— which really are insignificant compared with spiritual wealth. If a person is
faithful and generous and is detached in the use he makes of these temporal
riches, he will, at the end of his life, receive the rewards of eternal life, which
is the greatest treasure of all, and a permanent one. Besides, by its very na-
ture human life is a fabric of little things: anyone who fails to give them their
importance will never be able to achieve great things. “Everything in which
we poor men have a part — even holiness — is a fabric of small trifles which,
depending upon one’s intention, can form a magnificent tapestry of heroism
or of degradation, of virtues or of sins.
“The epic legends always relate extraordinary adventures, but never fail to
mix them with homely details about the hero. May you always attach great
importance to the little things. This is the way!” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
826).
The parable of the unjust steward is a symbol of man’s life. Everything we
have is a gift from God, and we are His stewards or managers, who sooner
or later will have to render an account to Him.
12. “That which is another’s” refers to temporal things, which are essentially
impermanent. “That which is your own” refers to goods of the spirit, values
which endure, which are things we really do possess because they will go
with us into eternal life. In other words: how can we be given Heaven if we
have proved unfaithful, irresponsible, during our life on earth?
13-14. In the culture of that time “service” involved such commitment to one’s
master that a servant could not take on any other work or serve any other
master.
Our service to God, our sanctification, requires us to direct all our actions to-
wards Him. A Christian does not divide up his time, allocating some of it to
God and some of it to worldly affairs: everything he does should become a
type of service to God and neighbor — by doing things with upright motivation,
and being just and charitable.
The Pharisees jeered at what Jesus was saying, in order to justify their own
attachment to material things; sometimes people make fun of total commit-
ment to God and detachment from material things because they themselves
are not ready to practice virtue; they cannot even imagine other people really
having this generosity: they think they must have ulterior motives. See also
the note on Matthew 6:24.
[The note on Matthew 6:24 states:
24. Man’s ultimate goal is God; to attain this goal he should commit himself
entirely. But in fact some people do not have God as their ultimate goal, and
instead choose wealth of some kind — in which case wealth becomes their
god. Man cannot have two absolute and contrary goals.]
15. “Abomination”: the original Greek work means worship of idols, and, by
derivation, the horror this provoked in a true worshipper of God. So the expres-
sion conveys God’s disgust with the attitude of the Pharisees who, by wanting
to be exalted, are putting themselves, like idols, in the place of God.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.