20180623
SLAVE OF GOD OR OF MAMMON?
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Chronicles 24:17-25 ©
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'You have deserted the Lord: now he deserts you'
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After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came to pay
court to the king, and the king now turned to them for advice. The Judaeans
abandoned the Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, for the worship
of sacred poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger fell on Judah
and Jerusalem. He sent them prophets to bring them back to the Lord, but when
these gave their message, they would not listen. The spirit of God took
possession of Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the
people and said, ‘God says this, “Why do you transgress the commandments of the
Lord to no good purpose? You have deserted the Lord, now he deserts you.”’ They
then plotted against him and by order of the king stoned him in the court of
the Temple of the Lord. King Joash, forgetful of the kindness that Jehoiada,
the father of Zechariah, had shown him, killed Jehoiada’s son who cried out as
he died, ‘The Lord sees and he will avenge!’
When a year
had gone by, the Aramaean army made war on Joash. They reached Judah and
Jerusalem, and executed all the officials among the people, sending back to the
king at Damascus all that they had plundered from them. Though the Aramaean
army had by no means come in force, the Lord delivered into its power an army of
great size for having deserted him, the God of their ancestors.
The
Aramaeans treated Joash as he had deserved, and when they retired they left him
a very sick man; and his officers, plotting against him to avenge the death of
the son of Jehoiada the priest, murdered him in his bed. So he died, and they
buried him in the Citadel of David, though not in the tombs of the kings.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 88(89):4-5,29-34 ©
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I will keep my love for him always.
‘With my chosen one I have made a covenant;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.
I will keep my love for him always.
‘I will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.
I will establish his dynasty for ever,
make his throne endure as the heavens.
I will keep my love for him always.
‘If his sons forsake my law
and refuse to walk as I decree
and if ever they violate my statutes,
refusing to keep my commands;
then I will punish their offences with the rod,
then I will scourge them on account of their guilt.
I will keep my love for him always.
‘But I will never take back my love,
my truth will never fail.’
I will keep my love for him always.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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2Co8:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 6:24-34 ©
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Do not worry about tomorrow: your holy Father knows your needs
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘No one can be the slave of two
masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first
with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and
of money.
‘That is why
I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor
about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food,
and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow
or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one
single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the
flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure
you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now
if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and
thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men
of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we
to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on
all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts
on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will
be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care
of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’
23 JUNE, 2018, Saturday, 11th Week,
Ordinary Time
SLAVE OF GOD OR OF MAMMON?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 CH 24:17-25; MT 6:24-34 ]
In the gospel yesterday,
Jesus made it clear that “where your treasure is, there will your heart also.”
So today, we are confronted with a decision to choose God or Mammon. This is
the crux of today’s Word of God, “No one can be the slave to two masters: he
will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect
and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and
money.” What we choose in life will determine our happiness because
our focus is dependent on what motivates us in life. If God is whom we
choose, we put God as the center of our life in all that we do or say. If
Mammon is what we choose, then it becomes the controlling factor in all our
thoughts, words and actions. So what is driving us each day in life?
In the first place, we
must clarify what it means to be a slave. The first thing we take
note is that a slave is the property of the master. He lives entirely for
the master. His whole life, all his energy and talents are at the service
of the master. All that he owns belongs to the master, his time and his
whole life. He claims nothing for his own. The corollary of this
also means that he lives from the master. His life is dependent on the
master since he lives for his master. Since he has nothing that he could claim
as his own, the master is the one who looks after him and cares for him since
he is serving him. Otherwise, the slave would be too weak to serve the
master and take care of his needs. So there is this mutual relationship
of loyalty and fidelity to each other. If the master does not treat his
servant well, he will suffer ultimately.
Analogously,
in our relationship with God, He is our master and we are His servants. If we consider God
as the treasure of our lives, then we would live for Him and Him alone.
He is the sole determinant in whatever we do or say. This is what Jesus
meant when He said, “Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his
righteousness.” This entails living for God and His kingdom of
justice, love, mercy and compassion. When we put God and His
kingdom values in our lives, then all our energy, talents and resources, all
our will and devotion is to make these values of the kingdom prevalent in the
world. In this way, we live for God and for the service of humanity.
All that we
have belong to God and therefore our possessions and wealth are only means, not
the ends.
They are used for the glory of God and the extension of His reign of love and
justice. Like the birds in the sky or the flowers in the field, we are
called to glorify God with our lives. Our attitude towards things of the
world is to use them for the service of love of God and of our fellowmen.
Money and possessions are not used solely for ourselves or just for our selfish
enjoyment but we see ourselves as stewards of God’s gifts to be distributed and
shared with others. Our position in society, our health, our wealth, they
are all to be used to further the reign of God’s love.
But it also
means that we will also live from God alone. Since everything belongs to Him, we are
aligned with His will. We will do what He wants and not what we
want. We take whatever the Lord has given to us for others. We
accept whatever He gives us without demanding more than we need to serve the
plan of God. If God does not bless us with certain gifts, wealth or
position, it is simply because we are not required to serve in that area.
When we endeavor to do God’s will rather than ours, then we will not fall into
the sin of pride, envy and greed. We will live a full life, doing as much
as we can in whichever situation we are in, because we are serving our
master. At the same time, we do not crave for things that we do not need
for the service of love. In this way, we live a contented life, free from
fear and worry about tomorrow because we know that God will take care of us
since we live for Him.
Conversely,
when a person lives for Mammon and entrusts his life to the pursuits of this
world, regardless whether it is wealth, money or status, then his entire focus
is about the world. The world controls his direction in life. Like a
slave, he lives for money, power and glory. Whatever he does, it is
to increase his wealth, power and glory. These are the things that matter
most. People are subordinated to this goal. He will make use of
people and often put his family and loved ones second to his worldly
pursuits. Everything is measured in terms of worldly success and
gains. He would even use unscrupulous and unethical means to enrich
himself. All his time and energy is for his ambition and selfish
wants.
Such a person
lives for himself. He is focused on himself, his needs, his desires and
aspirations.
Because he lives only for himself and can only depend on himself, he lives a
life of insecurity. He is always worried about tomorrow because life is
unpredictable. He wants his will to prevail and his goals to be
realized. But the truth is that one can fall sick and even die, the
economy can suddenly collapse; a tragedy could strike anytime and
anyplace. So he lives in fear and worries even as he accumulates more and
more; and grows to be more powerful and influential. Yet, he knows that these
things will soon pass and that makes him insecure and fearful that it is a
matter of time when he will lose everything that he has.
This was the
mistake of King Joash. He started well as a young king guided and mentored by Jehoiada,
the high priest who restored the Temple of Jerusalem by removing Queen
Athaliah. When the Temple was restored, the country was also
restored to order. When God is worshipped and loved, then we find our
bearings in life because everything is seen in the perspective of the love of God
and of our fellowmen. However, the tragedy of life is that riches and
wealth often blind us to the truth. As the country became prosperous,
Joash and his leaders again forgot about Yahweh. They fell into decadence
and allowed idolatry, the worship of false gods and superstitious practices to
come into their lives.
When we are
consumed by our desires and when God is no longer the center of all that we
live for, then we can no longer even hear the truth proclaimed by the prophets. This was the reaction
of King Joash to the prophet, Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He
forgot completely what his father did for him in helping him to regain the
throne from the wicked Queen. Yet for all that he did for him in his
glory, he dismissed the warning of Zechariah. Instead of being grateful,
he had him killed. As a consequence, the country
deteriorated. Eventually, he was conquered by the Aramean army and was
murdered by his own officials. He got his just desserts for the sins he
committed. God sends prophets to save us from our sins and
destruction. And even when He allows us to suffer for our sins, it is
never out of vindictiveness or revenge but to awaken us to the truth about our
selfish pursuits and the more important things of life. If we do not
pay heed to His warnings, we too will suffer the same fate.
So, we are
called to make a decision today, whether we want to serve God or Mammon. If we choose God and
make Him the center of our lives, we do not have to live in fear for His will
is our peace. By surrendering our lives to Him, we can live in peace and
give ourselves entirely to what we do and choose to be happy and fulfilled in
any circumstance we are in. We can be confident that He will look after
us as history has shown. Somehow, we will manage and survive in
life. When we look at our past, the Lord has shown in many situations
that He is the Lord of our lives. “Now if that is how God clothes the
grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow,
will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith?” So we
live in faith and trust in the Lord each day, without having to worry about
tomorrow. As Jesus said, “Surely life means more than food, and the body
more than clothing!” If we choose Mammon, that is, to put our trust in
worldly things and in ourselves, then the consequence is that we live in
perpetual fear and worry because there is no peace in our hearts. We will
always be seeking to fulfill our will.
But the real
tragedy for us is not that we choose God or mammon but we want both. The truth is that no
one can serve two masters. In trying to serve both masters, we end up
confused and fickle minded. One day, we serve God and another day, we
serve Mammon. As such, our lives are lived like a yo-yo, swinging up and
down, left and right because we lack focus. We fall into sin and then get
out of sin. This explains why those of us who apparently choose God but not
definitively or totally, continue to live in tension, in fear, in worry and lacking
peace and joy in our lives. So the choice is really ours. The
kingdom of God, the reign of His love and peace is ours if we choose to serve
Him and make Him the center of our lives. If we choose Mammon, the world
and ourselves, then be ready for the consequences.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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