The Nexus

Enkindle in Them the Fire of Your Love archives

Lectionary Readings for the 25th Sunday of the Year, Year C

“You cannot give yourself to God and money.”

The gospel for this Sunday involves a parable and
a teaching on Jesus on money matters.  The parable
is about a dishonest manager who dissipated his
master’s property.  When the owner learned about
this, he told the manager that his service is
about to come to an end.  Since the manager had
to find a new way of making and earning a living,
he thought of a means to renew and make new business
relationships with his master’s clients.  He went
back to these clients and “reduced” their debts
in his master’s business.  When his master learned
about what his employee had done, he was surprised
at his employee’s enterprising and wise act.

Aside from politics and religion, money matters are
one of the realities that sometimes causes strife,
division, and enmity among those who are involved
in it.  Even in the very sanctuary of marriage and
family life, painful conflicts may arise if the
family members are not careful in dealing with
these matters.  It often arises when inheritance
is being divided among family members.  It is at
this time that a lot of prayers must be made by
the family and friends of the family. Or relatives
of the family members would do the family a great
favor if they also pray that the family may not
be destroyed by money matters.

Money is also important in our modern life as
Catholics.  It is a means for us to improve our
living and make our life one that is pleasing to
the Lord.  But we need to be very careful in
dealing with money.  If we are not careful, we
may succumb to the temptation to give ourself
to money instead of to God.  The way we can
proceed in caution with regards to these matters
is to keep our eyes fixed on Christ.  For when
our finances are shaken and there seems to be
little left in order to continue living, if
we focus on this problem and turbulence, we
may sink in hopelessness and lack of faith in
ourselves and in God.  But if we fix our gaze
on the provident care of God, He will grant us
faith and confidence that will help us deal with
our family’s finances.  Placing our trust and
confidence in Jesus can also guide relations
with one another so that people may place the
center of their lives on God.

Enkindle in Them the Fire of Your Love archives

Lectionary Readings for the 18th Sunday of the Year, Year C

“…Growing rich in the sight of God…”

This Sunday’s gospel tells of the story of a man who
wanted to make Jesus the judge and arbiter of their
family’s possessions.  Jesus first response was to
say, “avoid greed in all its forms”.  Then, he gave
a teaching in relation to possessions through the
parable of a rich man who had a good harvest.  In
that story, because of his good harvest, the rich
man planned to build larger grain bins to store more
of his harvest.  Because of that action, he brought
condemnation on himself.  The Lord also said to him:
“You fool! This very night your life shall be required
of you.”

This story of Jesus teaching with a parable is very
effective because of its dramatic imagery - especially
in relation to how we can hear the “booming voice” of
the Lord saying how foolish that rich man with a
good harvest was for his plan to build bigger barns.
The parables of Jesus may be commonplace in the sense
of the rural elements and scenes imbedded in them but
they contain such deep wisdom that will apply not only
to the generations during the time of Jesus but to
generations even before His birth and more so towards
the future.  No matter how human civilization has
developed and has grown, if we are not careful of
guarding our hearts from the temptation of greed and
the temptation of hoarding without sharing, then we
shall indeed lose our soul.

How do we apply this teaching of Jesus in our life
as heads of the family or as individuals making a
living in the working world?  For one thing, having
a “good harvest” is not bad in itself.  It is a very
good thing.  That means we have put all the talents
God has given us to its full potential.  Not only
that, God has given success to the work of our hands
- and one that will be fulfilling and happy especially
if it is in relation to helping people.  But with our
“good harvest”, we are obliged by our Christian
vocation to be charitable - to help those who are
less fortunate and to donate what we can give in
order that others may live.  Our task then is just
to have a generous and charitable Christian heart:
always ready to give when we sense that we should
indeed help.  “Growing rich in the sight of God”,
means pleasing Him more and more by obeying His
will.