Fr. Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on the  Gospel for this Sunday, September 21, 2025, entitled “You cannot serve both God and money.”

***

Jesus wants to warn us of the danger that riches pose for the disciple.

Saint Paul will also remind us:  Those who want to get rich fall prey to temptation, are entangled in a snare, and are caught in many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and some, led astray by it, have strayed from the faith and brought many sufferings upon themselves  (cf. 1 Tim 6:10). The first reading reminds us of this:  Hear this, you who trample on the needy… to buy the needy with a pair of sandals…

But the deep motivation for this Christian attitude is not moralism, but a profound experience of faith.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. This is the experience born of faith:  being able to live trusting in God’s providence; trusting that God is your Father and cares for you. That He gives you what you need at every moment:  I know how to live in poverty and abundance; my God will provide.

Jesus Christ, though rich, became poor so that by his poverty we might become rich  (2 Cor 8:9), we sang in the Alleluia. This is also the reason for our actions:  to follow Jesus Christ, to live like him, with the same feelings and attitudes, and to place all our trust in the Father, humbly praying each day:  Give us this day our daily bread.

In the Gospel, Jesus praises the shrewdness and sagacity of the administrator, and invites us to be shrewd, not to secure our material future, but to reach heaven. The goal of your life is not to be rich:  What will it profit someone to gain the whole world and lose their soul?  Do not worry about what you will eat… The pagans worry about these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek above all the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore,  do not worry about tomorrow  (Mt 6:31-34).

This warning is especially serious in this materialistic society in which we live, which easily leads us to idolize money and material things, to place our hearts and security in material things, and therefore, to take them away from God. This is what Pope Leo reminded us at the beginning of his pontificate:  Even today, there are many contexts in which the Christian faith is considered an absurdity, something for weak and unintelligent people, contexts in which other securities are preferred than the one it proposes, such as technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.

Money and material things are necessary for life, but we must put everything in its place. Money must be used, but not loved.  Money cannot be the master of your life.

The true treasure of the disciple is not the goods of the earth, but Jesus Christ :  For to me, life is Christ …  I consider everything rubbish in order to gain Christ… We are citizens of heaven… Do not worry about anything.

Only God is God! Only God is enough! Your heart is so big that only God can fill it completely!

Where is your heart? Where are you placing your security? What do you aspire to in your life? Who is the Lord of your life?