September 18, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. The two masters Jesus is referring to are wealth, or temporal goods, and God. The truth Jesus seems to be pointing out to us is that we must make a choice; we can’t juggle both. And clearly, our choice should be to serve God. 

What does choosing to serve God require of us? It demands that we submit control of our life to God, that we trust God completely with our lives. And our lives include our family, our loved ones, our livelihood, our safety, our health. It calls us to trust God, whatever happens. When things are going well, that can be easy to do. But when bad things happen, we might start questioning whether that trust is well placed and might start looking around for alternatives.  

Choosing to serve God is not a one-time choice. Rather, it is a choice we make daily. In the Gospel, Jesus brings up another truth relevant to this point: The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones. In other words, the choices we make when the stakes are small will shape the kind of person we become and will set us up either to succeed or fail as disciples of the Lord. 

Before we face that big moment when our trust in God is truly tested, there will have been many smaller tests: when we were tempted to act in an un-Christian manner but chose to listen instead to the voice of our conscience; when we were enticed by vice but stayed strong in virtue; when we forgave and prayed for the person who hurt us. All these are ways we choose daily to serve God.

And choose we must, because we may be tempted to straddle the fence – to serve both God and our earthly interests. This is a strong temptation because our temporal, physical needs are deep-seated. And we are surrounded by a culture that values and rewards the pursuit of temporal goods. But, as Jesus warns, trying to pursue both won’t work. We will end up choosing by default and the default choice might not be the best one. 

Fortunately, the Lord knows these temptations exist and he knows our weaknesses. He is always present to help us. If we find that we have been making many small wrong choices, the Lord awaits us at the sacrament of reconciliation to offer forgiveness, healing, and a new beginning. And at Mass, in the Eucharist he offers us himself as spiritual food to strengthen us to choose to serve God today and every day. 

God Love Ya!
Fr. Reilly