I’m a young teenager who finds it easy to say, “Yes, Lord, I will follow You all my days! You want me to give up everything I have? Sure, Lord, that’s easy. Here, take everything I call mine!”

It was only recently when I realized why it was so easy for me to give up everything to God. It’s because I have nothing. Aside from maybe a few hundred pesos from the red envelopes I’ve collected from Christmases over the years and report cards with the grades I try to work hard for, I had no possessions to offer the world.

Yet, this doesn’t matter to God. Whoever can be trusted with little can also be trusted with much. If we just wait patiently and take good care of what we already have, one day, God will widen our already open hands that used to only hold little. He’ll make them bigger and bigger—able to hold all the new gifts He has to offer.

Helene Gogna (helenegogna@gmail.com)

reflect

Are you ready to receive the grandest opportunities only God can give?

Open up your palms now and say this prayer: Heavenly Father, I surrender the little I have to You as I wait patiently for the “much” You will soon bring into my life.

Saint Castorius, pray for us.

In his final words to the Christians in Rome, Paul greeted the many people who had worked with him in his missionary endeavors. From this, we learn that Paul was not a one-man band. He was happy to collaborate with lay people, married couples, and other disciples. We can achieve more when we work together rather than do it all on our own.

³ Brothers and sisters: Greet Prisca and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I am grateful but also all the churches of the Gentiles; ⁵ greet also the Church at their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the firstfruits in Asia for Christ. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners; they are prominent among the Apostles and they were in Christ before me. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. ²² I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord. ²³ Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole Church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus greet you. 24-25 Now to him who can strengthen you, according to my Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages ²⁶ but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith, 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen.

² Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. ³ Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. (R) ⁴ Generation after generation praises your works and proclaims your might. 5 They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty and tell of your wondrous works. (R) ¹⁰ Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. ¹¹ Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might. (R)

Gospel | Luke 16:9-15

Jesus did not see money and wealth as evil but as something that must be handled with great responsibility. In this life, some are poor and others have more than what they need. How the rich use their possessions and resources determines their eternal destinies. If God has blessed us with material things, let us use them to gain for ourselves the true and lasting riches in heaven.

Gospel Acclamation

Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? ¹² If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? ¹³ 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.” ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. ¹⁵ 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.”

Reflect:

“Give of your earthly goods and receive eternal ones; give earth and receive heaven.” (Saint Augustine)

Read the Bible in one year! Read PSALMS 21 - 25 today.

A great blessing for me in recent years has been to provide spiritual support to members of groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and their affiliates (Narcotics Anonymous and Sex Addicts Anonymous). Recovering addicts have much to teach us. From them, I learned about the vigilance we need against sinful tendencies that enslave us, about our helplessness against such addictions if we do not rely on the grace of God, and the humility required to seek the help of others whom God sends our way.

Today’s Gospel tells us of a Pharisee who loved money and who sneered at Jesus. He did so after Jesus warned about wealth and the impossibility of having two masters. By making his hatred for Jesus known, that Pharisee unwittingly provided a clear illustration of what Jesus said: That with two masters, we end up hating one and loving the other.

That Pharisee’s example also reminds us that the dynamic of addiction is not limited to alcohol, narcotics, or sex, but can be about everyday things that displace God from the center of our lives. These can be money, food, travel, status, social media engagements, streaming, scrolling through Internet content, and so on. Think about the importance you give these things vis-à-vis the time and resources you allocate to them, or how they consume or preoccupy you in your day-to-day life, and you might get a better glimpse of how they have become your master.

Today’s First Reading reminds us of what God gives us in our battles against addictive forces in our lives: strength. We have to ask Him for it, in admission that we cannot win these battles on our own. 

Fr. Mark Lopez, SJ

Reflection questions

What takes most of your time every day? How has this displaced God at the center of your life? 

Lord, I admit that I cannot overcome my battles on my own. I need You to fight them with me. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ___________________________________