Jesus said in today’s gospel that, “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” What a difficult verse this is to live by sometimes. Money is a necessity of life, yet the pursuit of money can eat up large chunks of your time, attention and effort that could also be spent on your relationship with God, your family and your friends.
Jesus describes the tug of war that many people in modern life struggle with. If you have the money to do something, like visit distance relatives for an example, then it is usually hard to get off work to go. If you have the time to go, then you don’t always have the money to pay for the trip. It’s quite a dilemma for some of us to balance our time, money and priorities in life.
Many people struggle just to make ends meet and often come up short even then. Others, work long hours, in high stress jobs to pay for more material “things” and then complain that they are stressed out all the time, but are they are usually unwilling to live a simpler lifestyle. That’s actually a problem for many average people too. We don’t want to look shabby, or poor, or appear to be less successful than others. We care too much what other people think of us, so we too, struggle to look the best we can.
Jesus said in today’s gospel:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? So do not worry and say, “What are we to eat?” or “What are we to drink?” or “What are we to wear?” All these things, the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”
Jesus’s words are beautiful. They are healing. Such simple words, but so hard for many of us to live by.
That is what was wrong with the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the first reading for Mass today. They couldn’t live a simple life, in tune with God and His commandments, but sought wealth for themselves instead. Zechariah told the people, “Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands, so that you cannot prosper?” The people didn’t want to hear it, so they stoned him to death. A catastrophe came upon King Joash and his people immediately afterwards.
If King Joash would have had the sense to worship God instead of idols, God would have helped the king and his people obtain the material goods they craved as well. That is what Jesus said in the gospel today too. “But seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”
Many of us are off work on the weekend. It might be a good time to take a look at the things we own and the lifestyle that we are struggling to maintain, to see where we might be able to simplify our lives. Perhaps we won’t have to make any major changes in our life though, to buy us more time to relax, worship on Sunday, and be with our family and friends. Instead of doing more, maybe we could look for ways to do less. To own less, to live simpler and to let go of worrying about what things look like to other people. Living below your means is a great stress reducer, and it can help bring peace, healing and wholeness back into our lives. Jesus gave us his blessing to do so, in today’s gospel.
Daily Mass Readings:
Chronicles 24: 17-25 / Psalm 89 / Matthew 6: 24-34
