Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 18, 2022 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Amos 8:4-7; 1 Tim 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13 or 16:10-13,196]"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 both God and mammon." [Luke]
The Gospel According to Luke is filled with comments from Jesus about the dangers of wealth. It is not simply a matter of having "more" than someone else, it is also a matter of what that wealth can do to one's faith and attitudes toward one's neighbor. Jesus, in the words quoted above, speaks of "divided loyalties." A more modern way of asking the question might be, "Do I own my stuff or does my stuff own me?" The parables of the Rich Man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31 and the Rich Fool [Luke 12:13-21] appear only in Luke.
The question of divided loyalties is not always one of economic disparity and serving wealth. It may be an addiction or personal attraction that consumes our attention for a long time. It is easy to rationalize this so that we can imagine we are serving God while actually helping only ourselves.
Jesus invites us to look into how our loyalties are prioritized. Whom do we serve as a matter of faith, and does our exterior conduct reflect the priorities of love of God and neighbor? AMEN
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