This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
It may seem scandalous, but for God, providing for our material needs is something of an afterthought. It’s not that He forgets to do it. Rather, it is simply a given–not the focus of His divine zeal.
We see in this sense how close Paul is to the mind and heart of God in our first reading today. He is excited that the Philippians have taken care to look after his material welfare. But it’s not because he was afraid of going without: “Not that I say this because of need.” He is equally happy in material poverty or abundance because he knows with absolute certainty that he receives all he needs from God: “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.”
Rather, he is excited because he is “eager for the profit that accrues to your account.” He knows that through their generosity, the Philippians are drawing nearer to Jesus, the Generous One.
When Jesus sums up material things in the Gospel passage as “dishonest wealth,” and tells us to make friends with it, he is essentially telling us the message that the Philippians are living out in the first reading: Material things have a new purpose with the advent of the New Testament, namely, to increase Love. Everything earthly is passing away and is, in this sense, “dishonest” in its promises of happiness. But through generosity, it can be used for true happiness, which comes from Love.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Examine with Jesus how you use your material gifts. Is your main focus your own comfort and advancement? Or is it Love? Ask Him how you can use the “dishonest” wealth of this world to increase the only wealth that is “honest” in the sense that it brings true, lasting happiness: Love.
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