Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk 

Eight Sunday of the Year, A – February 26, 2017

Readings: Isaiah 49:14-15; Responsorial Psalm Ps 62:2-3.6-9; 1st Cor 4:1-5;

Gospel Mt 6:24-34.

Theme:  Service to God, Not Mammon

Dearly beloved, on the eight Sunday of the year, the Church calls us to beware of mammon as we journey towards heaven. The call as the gospel relates (Mt 6:24-34), involves a determination to contentment, detachment from mundane interests and above all, a desire to resign our fate to God who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).                                       

To absorb this message, we must understand what "mammon" which Jesus warns about is. In the New Testament, mammon "is thought to mean money, material wealth or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. 'You cannot serve both God and mammon.'"

In a related sense, it a noun which refers to "wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion. It was taken by medieval writers as the name of the devil of covetousness, and revived in this sense by Milton." From which ever sense one views it, mammon is associated with materialism and it's concomitant worry about life and what to eat/drink or wear.                        

The craving to be over and above others in terms of acquisition of wealth and subjugation of others constitute the reason why there are attacks like xenophobia against Nigerians and other African nationals currently taking place in South Africa as well as all sorts of injustices meted on smaller nations by wealthier nations of the world. It is for the same reason that illuminati, secret societies and cult groups exist.                            

There are sad incidences where parents sacrifice their children for ritual purposes. Children have also offered their parents to be killed for money. It is sickening that there is no city in our country that you don't hear one form of ritual killing or the other for pecuniary gains. Worse still, some Pastors have posed as wolves in sheep clothing to defraud gullible worshippers.                                                  

Writing to his son in the faith, St. Paul warns: "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang" (1 Timothy 6:10). This warning is apt to our situation today in which we are living in a rat race - survival of the fittest and the elimination of the unfit. In the first reading (Isaiah 49:14-15) the Prophet Isaiah assures that the love of God whom he describes in feminine language is sufficient for us because God never forgets his own just as a mother never forgets a child at her breast. He further gives his word that even if a mother forgets her sucking, "...yet I will not forget you."    
                           

This implies that we have a benevolent God who not only feeds the birds of the air, takes care of the lilies of the field and clothes the grass of the field but takes care of us, whom he has made little less than gods, crowning us with glory and honour (Psalm 8:5). God knows our needs even before we ask him. As such, all that he requires is: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." This means that those who put their trust in God will never be put to shame. Instead of being anxious about tomorrow, what God wants of us is to pray "Give us this day, our daily bread." Notice, it is not "Give us these days." Those who steal or kill to make it in life often don't live to enjoy the loot. In the second reading (1st Cor 4:1-5), St. Paul urges us to be faithful stewards. This demands that we "let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day" as well as be of  "service to God, not mammon." Have a beautiful week ahead!