“The Worship of Mammon”
by Evelyn De Morgan, 1909
Readings for Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary
Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [3]
Readings
and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: 2 Chronicles 24:17-25
After the
death of Jehoiada,
the princes of
Judah came and paid homage to King Joash,
and the king
then listened to them.
They forsook
the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers,
and began to
serve the sacred poles and the idols;
and because of
this crime of theirs,
wrath came
upon Judah and Jerusalem.
Although
prophets were sent to them to convert them to the Lord,
the people
would not listen to their warnings.
Then the
Spirit of God possessed Zechariah,
son of
Jehoiada the priest.
He took his
stand above the people and said to them:
“God says,
‘Why are you transgressing the Lord’s commands,
so that you
cannot prosper?
Because you
have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”
But they
conspired against him,
and at the
king’s order they stoned him to death
in the court
of the Lord’s temple.
Thus King
Joash was unmindful of the devotion shown him
by Jehoiada,
Zechariah’s father, and slew his son.
And as
Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge.”
At the turn of
the year a force of Arameans came up against Joash.
They invaded
Judah and Jerusalem,
did away with
all the princes of the people,
and sent all
their spoil to the king of Damascus.
Though the
Aramean force came with few men,
the Lord
surrendered a very large force into their power,
because Judah
had abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers.
So punishment
was meted out to Joash.
After the
Arameans had departed from him,
leaving him in
grievous suffering,
his servants
conspired against him
because of the
murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest.
He was buried
in the City of David,
but not in the
tombs of the kings.
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Commentary on 2 Chr 24:17-25
King Joash
does not direct the people to worship God, but embraces idol worship, and
disregards the prophets sent to him. Then Zechariah arises and challenges
King Joash and the people, telling them that unless they turn back to God, they
will be punished. The king, even though he owed his own life to
Zechariah’s father, Jehoiada (see 2 Kings 11:4-17), had Zechariah murdered. (This event is referenced by Jesus,
speaking about the Jews ignoring and killing prophets in Luke 11:51, although there is some confusion over this because of Matthew 23:35, where Zechariah is identified as “son of Barachiah” the minor prophet.
See Zechariah 1:1.)
The actions of
the king and the people are seen to be avenged by God through the Arameans.
The chronicler records that a small force later attacks Judah, and
inexplicably defeats the much larger army of Judah. They then proceed to kill
the king and his court, not according him the honor of his kingship.
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial
Psalm: Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34
R. (29a) For
ever I will maintain my love for my servant.
“I have made a
covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn
to David my servant:
Forever will I
confirm your posterity
and establish
your throne for all generations.”
R. For ever
I will maintain my love for my servant.
“Forever I
will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my
covenant with him stands firm.
I will make
his posterity endure forever
and his throne
as the days of heaven.”
R. For ever
I will maintain my love for my servant.
“If his sons
forsake my law
and walk not
according to my ordinances,
If they
violate my statutes
and keep not
my commands.”
R. For ever
I will maintain my love for my servant.
“I will punish
their crime with a rod
and their
guilt with stripes.
Yet my mercy I
will not take from him,
nor will I
belie my faithfulness.”
R. For ever
I will maintain my love for my servant.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34
Psalm 89 is a
communal lament sung after the defeat of the Davidic king. Because defeat calls
into question God’s promise, made in the strophes cited here wherein God
promised David’s throne to stand forever, the community asks God to remember
his promise.
CCC: Ps
89 709
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34
Jesus said to
his disciples:
“No one can
serve two masters.
He will either
hate one and love the other,
or be devoted
to one and despise the other.
You cannot
serve God and mammon.
“Therefore I
tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will
eat or drink,
or about your
body, what you will wear.
Is not life
more than food and the body more than clothing?
Look at the
birds in the sky;
they do not
sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,
yet your
heavenly Father feeds them.
Are not you
more important than they?
Can any of you
by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?
Why are you
anxious about clothes?
Learn from the
way the wild flowers grow.
They do not
work or spin.
But I tell you
that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed
like one of them.
If God so
clothes the grass of the field,
which grows
today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not
much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
So do not
worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are
we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’
All these
things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly
Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first
the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given
you besides.
Do not worry
about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
Sufficient for
a day is its own evil.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 6:24-34
Jesus
continues his Sermon on the Mount being very clear about what must be placed
first in the life of his disciples. Here the word mammon is
used, an Aramaic word meaning wealth. The Lord does not deny that people need
the physical things of the world (i.e., food, clothing, and water), but tells
them that, if they have faith in God and pursue the things of God’s Kingdom,
the heavenly Father will provide for them. He goes further to say that, if they
are constantly focused on material goods, they will not extend their lives even
a little.
CCC: Mt
6:24 2113, 2424, 2729, 2821, 2848; Mt 6:25-34 2547, 2830; Mt 6:25 2608; Mt 6:26-34 322; Mt 6:26 2416; Mt 6:31-33 305; Mt 6:32 270; Mt 6:33 1942, 2604, 2608, 2632; Mt 6:34 2659, 2836
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The sacred
history of God’s involvement with mankind repeatedly demonstrates the lesson
Jesus tries to teach in the selection proclaimed from the Sermon on the Mount.
People who place physical wealth and power first in their lives perish with it.
Those who worship the idols of avarice and greed, ignoring God, who created all
things, find only dust at the end of their earthly lives.
We see the
historical evidence of this warning played out in the reading from Second Book
of Chronicles. King Joash, who himself was rescued from the tyranny of a
predecessor (ironically kept hidden and safe in the temple for six years by a
priest, the father of Zechariah, whom he had killed for calling the people to
return to authentic worship) is punished for his idol worship. Like so many
stories related in the historical books of the Bible (1 & 2 Kings and 1
& 2 Chronicles), leaders who allow or encourage the people to turn away and
forget that the one true God created them, offers them peace, and asks only for
obedience and love, find that destruction follows their disobedience.
Jesus, who is
trying desperately to show the people the depth of God’s love, tells the
disciples and those with them that loving wealth, power, and material goods
leaves the soul empty. What comfort and consolation does a bar of gold give
when one is frightened or ill? What strength does a mansion of bricks and
mortar give when our mortal shell begins to fail? What genuine love is received
from hirelings paid to serve?
It is only in
the Lord, whose love for us is unimaginable, that comfort, consolation, and
strength may be found. It is only strength of spirit, bolstered by the
indwelling Holy Spirit, that allows us to look into the eye of defeated death,
and walk forward unafraid.
As disciples
of the Lord, we are reminded once more that our energy and focus in life must
be to embrace the spiritual treasure that the Lord offers us. It is by prizing
him above all else that this treasure is accumulated. We pray today that our
minds constantly flow to Jesus who, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, is
the author of our creation.
Pax
[2] The picture is “The Worship of Mammon” by Evelyn De Morgan, 1909.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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