Scripture/Bible: "No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 "Therefore I tell
you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall
drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the
air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being
anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28 And
why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29 yet I tell you, even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the
grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be
anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall
we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek all
these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. 34 "Therefore do not be
anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's
own trouble be sufficient for the day. Matt 6:24-34
Reflection: There seems to be something wrong with this statement
of Jesus; "No one can serve two masters.” Take for example the
whole concept of multitasking and you will find that there are people who do
better than some in more than one task simultaneously, if not two.
Some
of us at work place can have two masters and or a master at home, head of the
family and the master at work place.
The
spiritual realm where his teaching needs to be implemented, it becomes more
complicated: we are one thing in the Church and the other outside. We devoutly
pray in the church and once out we are full of filth, cursing, abusing and
quarreling with the same tongue.
The
wicked; we see them flourishing and some even doing well, becoming the envy of
the others who struggle to walk in righteousness, in the footstep of the one
master. They steal, rob, gossip,
slander, hurt, abuse, practice immorality, drink and make merry and yet never
seem to be in misery.
With
all these evidences lined up, shall we then conclude that there is no truth in
the statement which says; “we cannot serve two masters?”
If
we have reflected well on yesterday’s reflection, then we realize and by now would
have arrived at the truth behind Jesus’ words:
All
these sinful pleasures and the service of men towards their selfish and wicked
goals is ultimately serving the one master; Mammon. Even if
it means the aggrandizement of the self and seeking one’s glory, ultimately it
is a service of the Mammon. Even if it
is a service to the poor and the downtrodden done to assuage one’s guilty conscience
it is a service of Mammon.
The
way of these pleasures is like marinating meat with the most wonderful spices
for a great barbecue on fire. Except that
this preparation is for the eternal fire beginning with this life.
“The
righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked
suffers want.” Prov 13:25
Prayer: “May
we Lord serve thee in your kingdom, and in thy great goodness which thou gavest
us, and in the large and rich land which thou didst set before us; and may we
turn from our wicked works.” (cfr. Neh 9:35)
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