Application of the parable of the dishonest steward

Gospel Reading: Lk 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 You cannot serve God and Mammon

We cannot serve, Jesus says, both God and money. To be a “servant” of someone is to be under his/her control or power. And if one wants to be a really good servant, one cannot but be wholeheartedly devoted to only one master.

The Gospel is a reminder or warning against thinking that we can serve both God and money. Unfortunately, many of us think we can do so: a “sprinkling” of donations here and there, now and then, while pursuing more wealth every day. The truth is, however, one “Lord” will occupy a bigger portion of our heart and our time. In the end, then, we have to choose which one to serve.

There is no halfway or part-time Christianity.

SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.