Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- God, or mammon

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 11.5.22 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

31st Week of Ordinary Time
Luke 16:9-15

Friends, in today’s Gospel,
Jesus teaches us to approach wealth with wisdom.
Let me quote a sermon of St. John Chrysostom on the right approach to money:

“Those who love money are fierce in the pursuit of it,
like wild animals pursuing their prey.
They betray, cheat, or exploit their closest friend when there is gold and silver to be gained.
They learn to make their consciences as numb as fingers on a cold day.
Their eyes become blind to the suffering they cause,
and their ears deaf to the cries of those whose lives are ruined by them.”

Those are strong words,
and they shook the people at the time who heard them.
And they shake us today.
But can you hear that he’s speaking in the tones of Jesus?
What’s the ground of all this for John Chrysostom?
Why does he say it? It’s very clear.
Because everything we have—our bodies, our life, our breath,
our minds, our accomplishments, and, yes, our wealth—
is a sheer gift given to us by a generous God, and, therefore,
it ought never to be hoarded for our own purposes
but always used for God’s purposes.

[MurphsLaw]

+++Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you, make friends for
yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be
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.”+++