Health Check

A Reflection on the Gospel for September 22nd, 2019:
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 16.10-13 (shorter)

(For the longer version, see the print edition of "Living with Christ.")

“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

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I remember as a young girl growing up, my dad would spend a lot of time at the local food bank sorting and organizing donations, building shelves and collection bins, or doing repairs where needed. There wasn’t any job he refused to do because he saw a need and knew it had to get done. He bought a trailer for his car that he used to haul around every weekend delivering furniture to the poor or carting junk off to the dump that people left in the donation bins.


Likewise, my mother also modelled for me the importance of using our time to help others. Whether she was driving people around to get them to appointments, visiting with the sick, or delivering meals to housebound people, she taught me the importance of service to those in need.


My parents understood what it meant to give of ourselves to support those less fortunate. They used the talents, treasure, and time God gave them to build up His kingdom on earth.


Do I consider everything I possess to be a gift from God? Our time on earth is short compared to an eternity in the afterlife. We have a responsibility on earth to use what God gives us, to be like Christ to those around us. In the 16th chapter of Luke’s gospel, we are especially challenged on our attitude towards money. We can easily fall down the slippery slope to serving money without realizing it. For that reason, it’s a good idea to do a health check on a regular basis to evaluate how much importance we place on money.

"Do I consider everything I possess to be a gift from God?"

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Each one of us will decide for ourselves how much money we actually need and how we choose to spend our extras. Jesus tells us, it is much easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yikes. How’s that for a wake up call. In Luke’s gospel we are once again warned that we cannot serve both God and wealth.


Let us heed Luke’s warnings and ask God to reveal to us any unhealthy relationships we have with money. And likewise, let us also pray that He would reveal to us how He desires for us to live out His mission on earth with the treasures He’s given us.


​Tammy LeBlanc

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