Today we are faced with a choice between God and a rival master. The rival master can be anyone or anything. The example Jesus gives is mammon, a Semitic word for
money or riches. Our ultimate loyalty should be to God, and
this is impossible if we serve money in the way that a slave
serves his master. It is this service of money, not the possession
of it, that is wrong. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian
sentenced to death for opposing the Nazis, put the choice well:
“Our hearts have room for only one all-embracing devotion,
and we can only cleave to one Lord.”
In the rest of today's Gospel, the theme is worry and anxiety:
“have no anxiety about anything.” God gave us life and our
body, so he will give us the lesser gifts of food and clothing,
and therefore anxiety is unnecessary. We are all prone to worry,
but it robs us of the peace of Christ. The basis of our anxiety is
that we lack faith. Jesus' teaching here gives us several reasons
why we should not worry: it is to miss the point of life, which is
far more important than things such as food, drink and clothing;
it makes little sense, for if God feeds the birds, surely he will
not let us go hungry; and it is a waste of time because it will
never lengthen our lives. Indeed, worry can make us ill,
shortening our lives. There are enough problems today without
worrying about tomorrow!
The answer to worry is to “seek first God's kingdom and his
righteousness.” We need to change our priorities and seek to
uphold God's standards. Through God's grace we can grow in
our understanding of his love and become more conscious that
he cares for us.
(excerpt: catholic-bible-school.org)
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