Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in
slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have been dishonest in handling
filthy money, who would entrust you with true wealth? And if you have been dishonest with thing
that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly your own?
No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he
regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to
Money.”
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. He said to them, “You do
your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what is highly
esteemed by human beings is loathed by God.
Reflect:
Nudus nudum Christum sequi is an ancient Christian ascetic motto in currency especially among
the early Franciscans. It refers to being “naked to follow the naked Christ.” St. Francis of Assisi
literalized it by stripping himself naked so as to be dispossessed of everything, embracing Christ
as his only garment. St. Angela of Foligno, a Franciscan Tertiary, is yet another who did the same,
by stripping herself before a crucifix as a symbol of her total surrender to Christ. Such acts may
seem excessive and embarrassing: however, they showed their absolute and irreversible choice
of God. They simply refused to serve two masters. Their fidelity was richly rewarded as well:
Francis becomes the “second- Christ” and Angela, at the height of her mystical experience,
sees herself lying on the Holy Trinity; in other words, being clothed in the Trinity. Their lives
inspire us to strip ourselves naked in spirit so as to be clothed in Christ alone.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022