Daily Gospel Reflection for November 5, 2016

Today's Gospel: Luke 16, 9-15

Money, money, money. It's a subject that consumes much of our material lives. We need money to survive, to pay the bills, to build a life for ourselves, to raise a family, to send our kids to college, to retire, to have life insurance cover our final expenses. We budget, we plan, we spend a lot and we save a little, we build up credit, we struggle through debt, we loan, we invest.

Yet money won't go with us when we die. We won't present our wallets, 401K plans or credit cards on judgment day. In the end, it's not really going to be about money at all, it's going to be about how responsible we were with the blessings, both monetary and otherwise, that God entrusted to us.

We will be accountable for how generous we were in funding our local parishes, in giving back to the religious organizations that influenced our spiritual progress, and in donating to charitable organizations that serve those in need. Most importantly, we will be judged on how much we gave out of love and not for our own satisfaction. We may have to start small by finding one act of service to do daily or weekly but as this Gospel passages points out "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones." (Luke 16:10).

As our selflessness grows, so will our generosity until authentic love is spilling over onto the charitable checks we write, and into the effort we put into serving others. Hopefully, on Judgment Day, we will present before God not a wallet stuffed with hoarded money wasted on selfish earthly pleasures, but a treasure chest overflowing with the gifts we gave away and people we loved in the process.

Ponder:

What are some ways you can use your material resources to build up a spiritual treasure chest filled with acts of love?

Pray:

Lord, please help me to be generous in small matters so that I can be trusted with great matters. Help me to serve in love.

Copyright 2016 Hannah Christensen

Hannah Christensen and her husband David have been married for five years and have two lively little girls. They reside in Nebraska where they are proud to be members of the vibrant Diocese of Lincoln. Hannah loves morning coffee, scrap-booking, themed parties, and all things organized. She has been dusting off her creative writing degree at her blog lovelylittlelives.com.