Saturday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Times (Year II)
2 Chronicles 24:17-25 | Psalm 88:4-5,29-34 | Matthew 6:24-34
‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. (Matthew 6:24)
This passage is often misinterpreted. Jesus isn’t saying that we must reject money in order to be faithful to Our Father. It’s perfectly possible to be “monogamous” to God, to spend each day reflecting His love onto others, yet simultaneously acquire and spend money in reasonable ways, particularly with charity towards others.
As I write this, I’m surrounded by literally thousands of books, printed booklets and magazines acquired over the last 25 years, the vast majority of which I’ll never read in my lifetime – they’re already largely out of date, but I keep convincing myself that there’s gems of knowledge in there that I’ll need real soon. And this is after my wife and I managed to recycle about half of the original stock. ?
Clearly, I was a slave to money at some point, and still suffer some elements of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to mammon. It’s a goad that’s driving me to greater involvement with God in my life, in an effort to “enslave” myself to the Author of eternal life and love instead.
So far, I’ve seen some improvement – the only new books I’ve bought in the last year have been on Catholic topics, and Brother Google and Sister Internet have largely supplied my tech knowledge needs. It’s still early days, but I hope that some day, my shelves will be almost bare of everything that doesn’t speak of God in some form.
Lord, help me consciously turn to You each day, and away from the unnecessary peripherals and temptations of earthly life, so that I may share my bounty with others in need with an open and loving heart. Amen.
P.S. If you’re wondering why that bizarre title sounds familiar…