“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”
Luke 16:10-13 (NABRE)
Which will you choose? Your eternal happiness depends upon it.
Jesus teaches us to not place our trust in our material possessions. This may sound overused or even conventional, akin to “money can’t buy happiness.” However, if we meditate upon this admonition from our Lord and focus on how it applies to our personal lives, we see more clearly the importance of living a life that is centered on God.
To serve mammon is to neglect the health of one’s soul in the pursuit of worldly gain. It is to compromise and to maneuver in a corrupt manner. It is to not give thanks to God and act as though we can pridefully control every aspect of the situation around us and the future. When we serve mammon, we tend to see the world in terms of mammon. We categorize people and pass judgement on them based on their financial status or their material possessions. We see the world as a competitive arena in which everyone else around us must be outperformed or shown up. When we serve mammon, we define ourselves based on what material things we have been able to gain or our accomplishments in our careers. In short, this is a short route to slavery to sin and misery. True satisfaction and rest will elude us so long as we serve mammon.
To serve God, on the other hand, is so freeing. He heals us and strengthens us to be able to break off the yoke of sin and accept the light yoke of Jesus. He leads us down a path of peace and stability. God does not demand riches our status in order to be great in His Kingdom. All He wants is for us to be close to Him. Consider Mary, the Mother of God. She is seated above the angels as Queen of Heaven, but she did not have any earthly power or wealth of which to speak. She lived a quiet life as a commoner woman from rural Galilee. She was the wife of a carpenter and lived a lifestyle devoid of material impressiveness and did not have career accomplishments of which to boast. And yet, she is the greatest woman of all time. Spiritually, Mary was the wealthiest among us mere humans. She was profoundly and beautifully holy as she lived her day-to-day life as a wife to St. Joseph and a mother to Jesus. She had immense trust in God to be able to say “yes” to His plan for her and to stand before Jesus on the Cross and have confidence in God’s providential care. She had such a love for God. She was conceived without sin an never once sinned during her entire life. This is ineffable beauty. This is what it means to serve God and trust in His care.
Mammon does not love you. God loves you. Place your trust in Him. The eternity which God wants for us is so much greater than anything mammon could ever provide for us.
Fall in love with Love itself and you will be truly free.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 