Money is a tool we are meant to use for good. Sometimes tools can become our masters, bossing us around. Jesus warns us: “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” (Lk 16:13).
In Jesus’s time, having a master meant that you were a slave. We are called to be “slaves,” or servants of God, not wealth. St. Paul describes himself as “a slave of Christ” (Rom 1:1). We serve Christ when we set aside our own will and trust God’s will for us. When we love God and others and receive nothing “profitable” in return. When we dedicate our lives to being his disciples wherever we go. As disciples of Christ, we serve the Lord, not money.
Jesus is giving us a wakeup call here. Who do you love the most—God or yourself? Love of money is really about selfishness. If we desire the comforts, pleasures, and honor that comes from having wealth above all else, we serve ourselves. If we desire the security that wealth can provide above all else, we trust in ourselves, not in God’s providence.
“Tell the rich in the present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, ready to share, thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19
The problem with being a slave to money is soon enough the money runs out. The more you have, the more you spend. That’s when the stress sets in. A recent financial study found that Americans are more stressed out about money than any another cause, including relationships and work. Of course, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about making ends meet. But if as the study found, almost half of Americans are money-stressed, then is it possible that many of us are slaves to mammon?
Christ, in His mercy, is the antidote to this stress. When we’re securely attached to Christ, we can detach from the earthly things that can so easily cause us anxiety. Of course, we still have to pay our bills, save for retirement, and be financially responsible, but we can relax when we trust that God will provide for us in good times and in bad. A fantastic prayer for learning to count on Jesus is the Litany of Trust. A key line: “From the fear that trusting You will leave me more destitute, Deliver me Jesus.”
Jesus, help me to rightly order my desires so that I use my resources to love and serve you and others, not just myself.
Readings for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
AMOS 8:4-7
PSALM 113:1-8
1 TIM 2:1-8
LUKE 16:1-13