You Can Not Serve Both God and Mammon

09-21-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh lorchir, VC

At creation and in practical display of Divine love, God made everything that man would need for his sustenance before making Adam. The Creator further brought all things to Adam and had him name all things thereby acquiring authority over the rest of creation. God completed His delegation of stewardship over creation to man by blessing him and admonishing him to "be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28). To be able to fulfill this Divine directive, man has acquired knowledge and has evolved various systems of leadership.

No matter what style of leadership we choose to embrace, the goal is always the same: to make maximum use of the resources God has given to cater for the needs of all. This is why St. Paul encouraged Timothy to offer prayers for kings, for all in authority and for everyone so that all may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. Notice that Paul did not ask that we pray exclusively for Christian leaders but for "all in authority." We owe our leaders an intercessory debt even before we complain about their failures.

However, whenever and wherever the evil of social inequality rears its ugly head, prophets of God lose their right to neutrality and are expected to activate their prophetic voice by standing with the marginalized, the persecuted and victims of injustice of all kinds. This explains the source of the authority of God's mouthpieces (the prophets) as they carried out the prophetic ministry in Biblical times. The prophet Amos was one of such prophets of social justice who challenged the wealthy of his time who had developed a clever system of defrauding, cheating and exploiting the poor. The wealthy at his time had so exploited the poor that they could conspire to "buy the lowly for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals" without expecting Divine retribution. Prophet Amos made it abundantly clear to them that the Creator had promised "Never will I forget a thing they have done!" In our time, some of the wealthy and powerful have perfected systems that maximally exploit the ignorant and the less fortunate, treating them as things instead of persons. Unfortunately, even those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus are found to have participated either actively or passively in the exploitation of others. What is worse is that for fear of persecution and "cancelling," prophets of God have remained silent as if they are deaf to the cries of victims of inequality and injustice. We are witnesses to violence, unjust wars, inhuman economic systems and other forms of injustices in our time, yet the prophetic fire within us remains dormant.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus told the parable of the astute steward who was praised by his master, not for his dishonesty, but for charting a soft path for himself when he realized he was in trouble with his master. This parable reiterates the truth that the benefits of this world are not really ours, they belong to the Creator who has placed them at our disposal as Divinely designated stewards and desires that we ensure an equitable distribution of the same so that all His creatures can be taken care of. In this way, we participate in God's continuous work of creation and glorify Him in our lives. By Divine provision, the resources of the earth are more than adequate for the needs of all but prove grossly incapable of satisfying the greed of a few. This parable demonstrates that there shall surely come a time when the Creator and owner of all things will demand an account of our stewardship of all His gifts including that of our very lives. An astute steward would use the time we have been given to cancel debts (forgiveness of the faults of others) and establish soft landings for himself through acts of charity especially to the needy in order to be in the good books of the Lord when He comes again. Every act of kindness and mercy is an astute preparation for Judgement day. Every prudent and positive intervention that alleviates the pain and suffering of victims of greed is a seed sown to be harvested at Judgement.

Let us pray that our leaders may be guided by the Holy Spirit to make right decisions for the welfare of all. Let us pray for an end to war and strife, and for the equitable sharing of our God given resources so that all may have life and have to the full.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh lorchir, VC