Saturday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel and the verses preceding it, present Jesus’ parable of the “dishonest steward” and its application. Taken at face value, one might wrongly conclude that Jesus is advocating for dishonest gain. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our Lord instructs us that, just as a “worldly” person might be shrewd and trustworthy in accumulating wealth for his own benefit, a faithful disciple of Jesus must also be prudent and trustworthy, sharing his wealth and exercising godly stewardship of his resources. Today, by God’s grace, may we come to recognize more clearly that true wealth lies not in accumulating and possessing, but in sharing and giving in love.
God expects that Jesus’ followers will prudently manage their wealth and resources so as to receive a true reward in heaven. Jesus states, “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?” These questions imply that our wealth, our mammon, actually belongs to God. If we treat our wealth and resources as our own, and not as belonging to God, then we may wind up trusting in our possessions more than we trust God. Jesus employs a fun wordplay, as the term “mammon,” (synonymous here with “wealth”) according to biblical scholar Joseph A. Fitzmyer, likely derives from a Hebrew word meaning, “that in which one trusts.” We might ask ourselves today, am I a faithful steward of God’s many gifts? Do I trust God to be the one in control as I manage my assets and resources? Am I quick to share with those in need? Do I believe that I need to continue to accumulate more and more wealth in order to feel safe and secure? Do I believe that my wealth, assets, gifts and resources ultimately belong to God?
Pope Leo’s prayer intention for this month of November focuses on this topic of wealth. He invites all Catholics to pray with him “for the proper use of wealth.” The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network releases beautiful, short videos each month which assist the faithful in prayer with our Holy Father. This month’s video can be found here. In his personal prayer, Pope Leo said, “Nothing is ours alone – everything is a shared gift.” He also observed that at times, “we let the wealth we seek or attain harden our hearts, lock us in selfishness, and make us forget the most vulnerable.” Humbly he prayed, “Forgive us for storing up instead of sharing . . . for using goods as power rather than as service.” We might take a moment and reflect on his words. What captures your heart as you read those excerpts?
In his prayer, Pope Leo also encourages us, with a reminder from the Gospel, “that true wealth is not found in what we keep, but in what we give with love.” He also declared, “a heart detached from possessions transforms the world . . . opens paths of justice, tears down walls of indifference, and sows hope among the poor.” Pope Leo asks the Lord to teach us to use what we have – money, time, talents, opportunities – as “instruments of fraternity.” In closing, our Holy Father prayed, “Make us witnesses of a wealth transformed into service and mercy, so that our lives, united to the lives of others, may be a sign of your Kingdom of justice and peace. Amen.” Let us reflect today on the extent to which we may have unhealthy or disordered attachments to the things of this world. What might the “mammon” be in my life? What might I need the Lord to soften in my heart so that I might share what I have more freely in true charity?
I’m grateful today for Jesus’ sometimes difficult but life-giving teaching and for Pope Leo’s call to pray. Let us join our voices with our Catholic brothers and sisters throughout the world, and may we open our hearts to the transforming power of God’s Word and Holy Spirit at work within us, and may each of us be instruments of fraternity, contributing to advancing justice and peace in the world, working to bring God’s Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.
In the Body and Blood of Christ,
Elizabeth Wells