Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading I: 1 Tm 6:2c-12
The women, who accompanied Jesus in His journeys, taught us that even if we have wealth, we can still be Jesus’ disciples. They provided for Jesus and His disciples out of their resources. They used their wealth to serve Him. They did this to show their gratitude to Jesus who did wonders in their lives. It was out of devotion that they followed Him and provided for Him and His disciples. And Jesus wholeheartedly welcomed them as His close co-journeyers and accepted their generosity.
However, some Christians today, are “supposing religion to be a means of gain,” as St. Paul said in our First Reading. They think that by giving to the Church they can receive more blessings. True, there is some truth in that, for Jesus Himself taught in Lk. 6:38, “Give and gifts will be given to you” and also in the Old Testament in Malachi 3:10 about the promise behind giving tithes that the Lord will open the floodgates of heaven and “pour down upon you blessing without measure.” for “God loves a cheerful giver,” 2 Cor. 9:7. This is what Jesus loves about the women disciples. They were cheerful providers for the Lord. It was out of devotion and love for Him that they used their resources for Him.
God, then, is reminding us to make use of His blessings, spiritual and material, not to gain anything from Him, but to serve Him with deep love and devotion like what the women disciples did.
Fr. Joel R. Lasutaz, SSS
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