+ The point of our readings today, it
seems, is that at the end nothing matters more than our eternal salvation, and
we need to focus all our efforts on being found “in the company of those who
dwell in the light,” rather than in any other company. This does not mean that
we neglect earthly duty. But any earthly duty must be filtered through a
primary focal reference point of God’s everlasting Kingdom and our place in it!
We need, as Jesus admonishes in the gospel passage, to be “prudent,” winning
friends who will welcome us into “eternal
dwellings” rather than simply earthly ones – which was the point of the
parable: these friends being the saints
both in heaven and right here on earth – holy people that we run across every
day – and there are a lot of them. Now some may be clever enough to cover
losses on the earthly plane – but only the saintly company can help us not only
cover but remove losses forever so that we can live with God in his house as he
desires us to!
What
really upsets God is the way the “haves” (especially those who
are supposedly “religious”) take advantage of and gouge the “have-nots” – the needy and the poor. In the first
reading he notes how the religious tradesmen fix their scales for cheating, and inflate prices for no good reason.
This can also be a modern day problem. Those with authority in financial
matters need to be very prudent and careful in dealing with everyone, but
especially the poor and the needy. This
applies to all levels of service and assistance, and includes all organizations
from small business to church and to government run agencies. As the first
reading concludes: The Lord has sworn by
the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done! This is bad
news for the gougers, but really good news to the poor and needy who have been
mistreated – no one gets away with
anything in the end – on that Last Day!
If we
are all found trustworthy in small matters of taking care of our own (mastering
ourselves) – then one-day God will reward us with
everlasting life for all the good we did for others by our compassion, our
generosity and our love. But none of this can happen unless and until we each
ourselves, privately and individually decide who it is we want to serve with all our hearts: God or Greed – this is spelled out
emphatically in the gospel passage today, and is one of the most basic and
fundamental questions we will ever have to answer! The choice is ours – may we choose well!
Though
our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty we might
become rich!
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