God and Mammon

Sunday, September 22, 2019 25th Sunday in
Ordinary Time First Reading: Amos 8:4-7
Second Reading: 1 Tim 2:1-8 Gospel Reading: Lk 16:1-13
Jesus told his disciples, “There was a rich man whose steward was reported to him for fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him: ‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service for it is about to be terminated.’ “The steward thought to himself: ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do: I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be some people to welcome me into their house.’ “So he called his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first who came: ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The reply was: ‘A hundred jars of oil.’ The steward said: ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write there fifty.’ To the second he put the same question: ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was: ‘A thousand measures of wheat.’ Then he said: ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred.’ “The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the people of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light. And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes.
“Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling filthy money, who could entrust you with true wealth? And if you have not been trustworthy with things which are not really yours, who will give you the wealth which is your own? “No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the  Assimilated Life  Experience)
Even though this life and the life hereafter are miles apart we cannot say that both are totally unrelated. Earth is prelude to heaven while heaven is confirmation of earthly life well lived. Temporal life leans toward eternity if lived to the full. Living the fullness of temporal life implies using available resources to prepare one’s eternal destiny. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that we take to the spiritual level what the shrewd manager did so craftily at the worldly level. In so doing, we harness to our spiritual advantage the relationship between earthly life and heavenly destiny. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.