25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

First Reading: Amos Amos 8, 4-7 | Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 112, 1-2. 4-6. 7-8.

Second Reading: 1 Timothy 2, 1-8 | Gospel : Luke 16:1-13

Reflection:

“You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Jesus said. It also means you cannot serve both God and riches or money. We should only choose one. The love of money means hatred for God because God commands us to love others. In loving others, we provide them with what they need. These “others” do not include only our family and friends. They are also the poor, beggars, strangers, and all those rejected by society. If we love money and pursue it, we will keep them to ourselves to buy what we want and for our security. But those who love God use the money to please Him and others. If we are detached from material possessions, we can use them as a tool for us to obtain the Kingdom of God through good works. But if we are attached to it, then we become the tools of the money.

It becomes the other way around as our lives will revolve around money and how to obtain it or get more. Those who love God and put Him first will have lives that revolve around love, peace, and true joy that cannot be taken away from them. This authentic happiness comes from God and is not dependent on any material thing; it is lasting. The question is, what do we choose in our lives? We all have the power to choose because God gave us free will. God gives us wisdom and understanding if we shall so desire so that we can see how the riches of the world are futile and finite compared to what we could receive in Heaven – if we are just willing to make the necessary sacrifices now. God provides us all things and we will not lack anything if we put our trust in Him and do what He tells us to do.



I pray that we will have that courage, wisdom and understanding from God so that we may inherit the Kingdom of God and have eternal life with Him in heaven. Amen. + 

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Marga de Jesus, OLA Social Communications Ministry