Philippians 4:10-19 / Luke 16:9-15
One of the lessons in life is to be contented when we have enough.
Yet, it is a lesson that we may not have fully learnt, or that we don’t quite understand when or what is enough.
Because there is this recurring sense of inadequacy, which is the state or quality of not being enough, sufficient, or good enough for a particular purpose, or a personal sense of lacking the required skills, confidence, or qualities to cope with a situation.
Also when we begin to compare ourselves with those who have more than us or are better than us, then we begin to feel anxious and want to keep up with them.
In the first reading, St. Paul gives us a reflection about his state of life.
He had learnt to manage on whatever he had, he knew how to be poor and he knew how to be rich too, with full stomach or empty stomach, in poverty or plenty.
And he tells us why – because there is nothing he cannot master with the help of the One who gives him strength.
In the gospel, Jesus taught us this: “No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.”
Surely, we need money to get the basic necessities of life. But we also know that we cannot get enough of it. We gradually become the slaves of money.
To let God be our Master will certainly mean that we must put our faith and trust in Him.
God will provide for our needs and He will also just give us enough of what we need.
As we keep learning the lessons of life, may we also learn that God is all we need, and with God as our Master, that will be more than enough.