7 November 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Luke 16:13
Jesus draws the lesson of yesterday's parable: “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.” Money is “a very little” compared with the true riches of the Kingdom, but how we handle it reveals our heart. Then the sharp line: “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Wealth is not evil, but it wants to be a master. The Pharisees, “lovers of money”, ridicule him; Jesus answers that God knows the heart.
Paul, thanking the Philippians for their gift, shows the freedom of one who serves God alone: “I have learned to be content with whatever I have… I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” He has known plenty and hunger, and he is free in both. Their generosity to him is “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God”, and God will supply their every need.
Theme: “One Master.”
Faithfulness in small things, freedom from money, contentment in Christ.
“Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need.” Proverbs 30:8
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.” Luke 16:10
Apply: Be scrupulously honest in one small matter today.
“Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” Psalm 62:10
“No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Luke 16:13
Apply: Give a fixed share this week to the poor.
“For the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
“So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.”” Luke 16:15
Apply: Thank God tonight for three things you have.
Serve God, and money becomes a servant.
In Christ we have enough.
Take-home resolution: Decide on a regular share of your income for God and the poor.
Dear friends, Jesus draws the lesson from yesterday's parable: whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much (Luke 16:10). Money is a very little compared with the true riches of the Kingdom, but the way we handle it shows what is in our heart.
Then he draws a sharp line: you cannot serve God and wealth (Luke 16:13). Wealth is not evil in itself, but it always wants to become a master. The Pharisees, lovers of money, laughed at him; Jesus answered that God knows their hearts.
Paul thanks the Philippians for their gifts and tells them his secret: he has learned to be content with little or with plenty, because he can do all things through him who strengthens him (Philippians 4:12–13). A free heart is not owned by its possessions.
Here is a practical step: decide on a regular share of your income for God and for the poor, and give it first, not from what is left over. It is a small thing, but faithfulness in small things is the training ground for great ones. Amen.
Children, Jesus says that if we are honest in little things, we will be trusted with big things. Share something you have with someone who needs it today!
Lord, you alone are my Master. Free my heart from the love of money, make me faithful in small things, and teach me, like Paul, to be content in every situation, for I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen.
Paul thanks the Philippians for their gift and says he has learned to be content in every circumstance, because he can do all things in Christ. Jesus teaches that we cannot serve both God and wealth. Money is a test of where the heart rests.
Setting.
At the end of the letter Paul thanks the Philippians for a gift they sent him in prison through Epaphroditus (2:25; 4:18). They had helped him from the beginning, even when he was in Thessalonica. Paul wants to thank them without suggesting that his peace depended on their money.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.” (4:11)
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (4:13)
In its context, this verse is about contentment in hunger and plenty. “All things” means facing every situation, rich or poor, with Christ’s strength.
“And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (4:19)
They supplied Paul’s need; God will supply theirs. Generosity does not empty us.
How the Church reads it.
Paul calls a gift of money “a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God”. The Catechism notes that from the very beginning Christians have brought, with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need (CCC 1351). The collection at Mass belongs to this tradition.
Setting.
These sayings follow the parable of the shrewd manager and draw lessons from it about the use of money. Luke notes that some Pharisees who heard this “were lovers of money” and laughed at Jesus. Luke speaks of these particular listeners, not of the Pharisees as a whole.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” (16:9)
Money will fail us at death. Used for the poor, it makes friends who will welcome us. “Dishonest wealth” means worldly money, which so easily leads to injustice.
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;” (16:10)
“No slave can serve two masters;” (16:13)
Jesus does not say “should not” but “cannot”. Money is a servant, never a master.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism counts the service of money among the forms of idolatry, and cites the Lord’s word, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (CCC 2113). It also quotes St John Chrysostom: not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life (CCC 2446).