“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”(Matthew 6:24)
Nowadays people often serve either man or material possessions like money, power and fame. This point of view frequently blinds the faithful in serving God alone by prioritizing the momentary belongings they receive in their daily life. In this kind of situation where the society usually depend on temporary happiness caused by wealth or things, difficulties often serve as an eye opener to people to bring them to conversion and be back again to the true Beholder.
A family friend of ours had a very inspiring story related to going back to God. He was very workaholic before, he would usually lose time for his own family and he wasn’t religious at all. He wouldn’t attend the Eucharistic mass unless there is something to celebrate or nothing to ask for petition but he is also an inactive member of a local parish organization. His work was his number one priority that time because he was so focused on investing money for his family’s future. It is not really all that bad because who only aims for success and the good of his family but forgetting and making God of least significance through his journey was his only mistake.
Through his hard work he received what he always wanted, he provided well enough for his family and he was promoted to a higher position in work. But life isn’t always filled with happiness and success; he had a kidney failure and needed to have a kidney transplant as soon as possible. All the money he invested was spent for his operation as if nothing was all left for his family. He had so many financial struggles, they were buried in debt, and all the years of hard work were gone in just a blink of an eye. He has no one to help him through this situation luckily, he was a member of this parish organization and despite being inactive the members collected donations for his medicinal expenses.
This downfall made him realize one main thing; you really cannot serve two masters at once. You’ll have to choose only one; maybe he has chosen the wrong master on at first but it is never too late to serve the true God. After this experience, he started to be active on his organization; he would regularly attend the holy mass, and attend first Friday masses in Qiuapo, Manila as his form of devotion and thanksgiving for his second life.
God is a merciful Father; He welcomes anyone open handedly to experience His everlasting love to all of us even if we are truly undeserving and have rejected Him several times.
Reflection: “Wealth and men could be very deceiving. It may promise you happiness but it will never give you eternal life and joy with God. Don’t be afraid to turn back to Him because He will rejoice for his lost son has already returned.”
Yesterday was the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, he was an accurate an example of choosing the right master to serve. He may have realized it later on his life but it proved that it is never too late for anyone who has faith. He stopped serving man and focused on serving the Lord for it is where he truly found contentment. May all of us be inspired of St. Ignatius’ story, so that the lost find their path back again to the true master. St. Ignatius of Loyola, Pray for us!
“If God makes you suffer greatly, it is a sign that he wants to make you a great saint.”– St. Ignatius of Loyola (Mariele Aquino)
