Twenty-First Saturday in Ordinary Time

Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.

We don’t have to be wise, powerful, or born into wealth to be good Christians. The only wisdom we need is to follow the teachings of Christ as best we can and trust in God’s Goodness. The only power we need is to make the choice to depend on God with complete trust in His Strength. The only wealth we need is the treasure house of graces that God offers us as followers of Christ. We are meant to be signs of contradiction to the world, showing our strength through our weakness. We are called to be lowly and humble, boasting of nothing except the greatness of our Lord and God.

Is our wisdom founded on the commandments, teachings, and inspirations God has given us? Is our strength totally dependent upon our humble trust in God? Is our nobility reliant upon our kinship with Jesus Christ and our imitation of his way of life?

O Lord, let our only boast be of you.

Amen.

Thirty-First Saturday of Ordinary Time

“I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 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.”

Jesus tells his followers to make friends with dishonest wealth so that when it fails them they will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. This message reinforces Jesus’ teaching that we should renounce worldly possessions in favor of heavenly ones. In the end, the dishonest wealth of the world will fail us all. However, if we cannot be honest in our dealings with worldly things, then how can we hope to be trustworthy with the true wealth of Jesus’ Good News? This is why Jesus tells his disciples to make friends of dishonest wealth. He is not telling them to be dishonest in seeking wealth, but rather to learn how to be honest in their worldly dealings so that those dealings do not lead them astray.

Are we trustworthy in worldly things? What about heavenly ones? Are we able to renounce our worldly possessions in favor of our heavenly ones?

O Lord, we only wish to serve you.

Amen.