“No slave can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and wealth.” Lk 16,13

Dear parishioners,

Luke’s gospel provokes in us today a salutary question, one that we do well to ask ourselves on a regular basis.

Let me begin with what I take to be a given: it’s simply wisdom to attach more importance to things that are forever, than to things that will pass.

If you agree with me on that, and if you agree with Jesus that no one can have two masters, that in each one of our hearts, necessarily one thing predominates over all others, then we do well to ask ourselves, on a regular basis, who is my master? What do I care for more than anything else? Is it the accumulation of earthly wealth, or more generally speaking, the quality of this life, all of which will be taken from me, or is it the things that are forever? Things like life, like people, my loved ones and others. Yes, I know, you’ve been told that you must love God above all things. It’s true that one day we will love God above all else, of necessity. But we’re not in Heaven yet, where love of God comes naturally. We are on earth. Jesus affirms, and models the absolute priority of God the Father, but he is also realistic. He tells us, start by loving the person, the people who are beside you. Once you’ve pulled that off, you can take a shot at loving the Father. And don’t worry, the Father is very, very patient. We are “dispensed”, if I can say, with loving God above all things as long as we are in the human condition, but we are not dispensed from imitating him, from wanting to be like him, here and now. And that is within our grasp. It is within our grasp to be able to distinguish what will pass from what is forever, and to set our hearts on what is forever. I would add that up to a point, things that are forever are inherently lovable, so that ambition to love them is realistic. So let’s be wise. Let’s set our sights, consistently, on the things that are for good, and that are inherently good, like people, like truth, like all things beautiful. In loving the things of God, we are so so very close to loving God himself. So let’s focus on imitating God. Let’s choose to love above all the things that are worthy of our highest love, because they are the finest things, the things that are forever.

“Do this,” says Jesus elsewhere, “and you will live.” 

Have a nice week, and see you some time after September 19th, when I return to St.Mary’s.

God bless, Fr. Guy