The readings for Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091822.cfm
So many things compete for our attention, don’t they?
So we do what humans do. We adapt, multitask, doing multiple things at the same time.
And we think we’re pretty good at this, by the way.
But, neuroscientists have done extensive studies on multitasking.
And these studies show that multitasking is not something anyone does well.
Overwhelmingly, they show people don’t really do multiple things at the same time at all.
Instead our brains just move quickly from one task to another to another to another.
We’ve seen this, right? Just watch someone driving a car and paying attention to their cell phone at the same time. Looking up, down, up, down, up, down, but never both at the same time.
Science confirms what we already know.
If we are doing one thing, we are not doing the other.
So while we think we are good at doing multiple things at the same time, science says - not quite.
Jesus says as much in this week’s gospel from Saint Luke, when He says no servant can serve two masters.
Jesus is saying that true disciples can’t do the things of heaven and the things of this world both at the same time.
Instead we need to change our approach so that everything we do becomes a type of service to God and our neighbor.
When we work, we need to work like we are working for Christ.
And we need to remove things from our lives that get in between us and God.
Whatever they are.
It’s been said that opposites attract, but Jesus says it quite clearly -
Our mind can’t be devoted to heaven and earth at the same time.
Our heart can’t love both God and the world fully.
It’s one or the other.
Let’s be clear - God wants all of us. He made us in his likeness and image.
The world wants all of us too and it doesn’t want us to have even the slightest relationship with God.
And it gives us a million reasons not to have one.
God calls us to love every person like ourselves, to love even our enemies and to do good to those who hurt us.
The world teaches us it’s ok to hate and to get back at those who hurt us. It encourages us to make everything about us.
God commands us to speak the truth.
The world hates nothing more than the truth. Instead it wants to flatter us, gossip, criticize and defame us.
God wants us to be humble. To trust and hope in Him. To live simply. To dress modestly. To be patient and give thanks. To deny ourselves. To fast and to pray.
The world tells us to be self-confident and trust in ourselves. To celebrate our appearance. To do what we feel. To complain. To demand our rights. To blame others for our problems. To take all life has to offer.
When we pray, if we pray - twice as many competing thoughts flood our brain as when we’re watching tv or at a sporting event or out to dinner.
At Holy Mass, our mind wanders to what we have to do later or how we can leave the Church quickly, so we can move on to the next thing on our list.
Do we make time for confession? This is when the world really kicks it up a notch, stacking so many things in our way that for one reason or another, we don’t ever seem to make one.
And as a result, we can go days without prayer, weeks without mass and years without repentance and absolution.
Heaven and earth.
What person can serve them both?
Jesus tells us. No one can serve two masters.
There is no middle ground.
This week, I ask you to consider.
This life is a dress rehearsal for eternity.
What matters most is how we use our time and our things in this life.
While we still have time.
When death comes it will be too late.
In our day to day choices…
Do we glorify God or do we glorify ourselves?
In our quiet moments, let us pray to God for the strength to live honorably. To give generously. To seek good for others. To remain faithful to Him and to obey His Word. To go to confession when we know we’ve fallen short.
Let us be reminded that we are all servants.
And no servant can serve two masters.
