God is the goal of our lives, so our service is directed to him. Mammon, on the other hand, is just a tool to be used for this journey.
Two years ago, the passing of Queen Elizabeth evinced reverent sadness, even in a country as allergic to monarchy as America. Despite our national history, Disney princess movies have captured American hearts for nearly a century now, with no signs of slowing down. We really do understand that royalty isn’t just about palaces, robes, and ceremonial swords. Worn honorably, the crown is a sign of the dignity befitting the guardian of the people. Truly virtuous kings and queens show us, in an extraordinary way, what each of us is called to be in an ordinary way: noble rulers.
While some rule over countries, others over massive corporations, most of us have an ordinary, everyday sort of rule. Jesus presents an opportunity for this everyday rule in the Gospel for this Sunday. When he says, “You cannot serve both God and mammon” (Luke 16:13), he obviously implies that wealth is not to be served. But then what is our relationship to mammon as we serve our God? It is a relationship of rule.
God is the goal of our lives, so our service is directed to him. Mammon, on the other hand, is just a tool to be used for this journey. We miss the point when we end up serving our wealth by orienting our lives toward it. But when we seek to serve God first of all, we can rule lesser things well by directing them to their real purposes. God has given you power over mammon to give you a share in his rule of the entire universe. Every paycheck, every trip to the grocery store, every order from Amazon is a chance to rule in God’s name by directing material things to a higher purpose—ultimately, to the highest purpose, God himself. As Jesus says earlier in the parable: “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations” (Luke 16:9). The Christian trades his money for higher things: food to feed God’s children, books to learn his truth, a home to nourish the life of faith.
Shockingly, God doesn’t treat you like a toddler when he gives you this chance. He gives you the real freedom to do as you see fit with your goods. He doesn’t command exactitude in your governance. What he does command, and what he knows you’re capable of (with his help), is that your rule be a small part of your loving service to him.
However mundane your service appears, God gives you a chance to rule in a more commonplace but even nobler manner than the kings and queens of this world. You have the real freedom to love God by using his gifts for his service as a little token of your affection for him.
If we do a decent job, who knows what God might have in store for his faithful servants? “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” (1 Cor 6:3)
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Republished with gracious permission from Dominicana (September 2025).
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Image: Bernadino Fungai, Coronation of the Virgin
