What owns your heart?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Jesus says something in today’s Gospel that can make us uncomfortable: “You cannot serve God and mammon.” In other words, you cannot have two masters. You can have many responsibilities, many relationships, many possessions but only one thing can sit at the center of your heart. And that is the real question of this Gospel: what owns your heart? Because whatever owns your heart will eventually shape your choices, your time, your priorities, and even the person you become.

Jesus talks about being trustworthy in small things. That is important because most of our spiritual life is not made up of dramatic moments. It is made up of ordinary decisions: how we use money, how we speak about people, how we spend our time, what we do when no one is watching. We often imagine that holiness will arrive through one great act of courage. But usually, holiness is built quietly. A faithful person becomes faithful by being faithful in little things. And the opposite is also true. A divided heart is usually formed little by little.

Money is one example, but Jesus is really talking about attachment. We can serve money, but we can also serve success, approval, comfort, control, reputation. We can even serve the need to be liked. And the dangerous thing is that these masters do not always look evil. They often look reasonable. We tell ourselves, “I just want security,” or “I just want people to respect me,” or “I just want to be comfortable.” But slowly, these things begin to decide what we will sacrifice and what we will not. That is when a good thing becomes a master.

So maybe the challenge today is not simply, “Do I have money?” but, “What do I refuse to surrender to God?” What is the one thing I protect from Him? What is the one area where I say, “Lord, You can have everything, except this”? Because Jesus is not asking us to hate the things of this world. He is asking us to put them in the right place. Money is useful, but it is a terrible god. Success can be good, but it cannot save you. Comfort can be enjoyed, but it cannot give your life meaning.

At the end of the day, the Gospel is an invitation to freedom. Jesus is not trying to take good things away from us. He is trying to make sure they do not take us away from Him. So perhaps today we can ask ourselves one simple question: If someone looked at the way I spend my time, my energy, and my resources, what would they say I worship? That question may be uncomfortable. But it can also be freeing, because the moment we see what is competing with God, we can begin to choose Him again.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, show me what has too much control over my heart. Teach me to use the things of this world without being owned by them. Give me a faithful heart in small things, a generous heart in good things, and an undivided heart that belongs to You. Amen.

– Homily by Rev. Fr. Patrick Agbeko