August 11, 2013 –– Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wis 18: 6-9; PS 33: 1, 12, 18-22; Heb 11: 1-2, 8-19; Lk 12: 32-48
“For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” (Lk 12: 34). Those words of Jesus in today’s Gospel have become among the most quoted passages ever in relationship to stewardship. Sometimes when we quote Holy Scripture, critics will claim that the statement is out of context.
In this case that simply is not true. Jesus makes reference to worldly goods just prior to saying this, but the key to what He is teaching lies in the general meaning He is trying to get across –– namely, we are measured and judged by the Lord based upon what is important to us.
Christ could not have made it more clear throughout His teachings that things of this world can stand in the way of living lives of holiness, of following stewardship as a way of life. Good stewards have things in the right precedence; they recognize that in order to love and serve God and our neighbor, love and service have to be more imperative to us than anything else. Jesus goes on in this Gospel to tell the Parable of the Faithful Servant. He is asking us, “Are you faithful servants?” Do our actions reflect that our hearts are with Him? “Are you prepared to meet Me face to face?” Are we?
