Today's Gospel concludes with Jesus saying, "You cannot serve both God and mammon." (Luke 16:13) Mammon is not a word we use in daily speech. Used in the Bible, mammon refers to the personification of wealth portrayed as a false god. Jesus teaches that we cannot serve two masters. If a person has two masters, he will love one and hate the other. Therefore, we must choose which one we will serve. In our everyday speech, we might say, "You cannot serve both God and money."

Thursday of this week, September 27, is the feast of St. Vincent de Paul who chose to serve God rather than mammon. He became a priest in 17^th century France with little more ambition than to live a comfortable life. The deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent's eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. He had a profound conversion and devoted the rest of his life to serving the poor in the streets of Paris. He became known as the "apostle of charity" because of his great love. A true symbol of his great love is his actual human heart, which has remained uncorrupt after all these years. One can view his heart at the Sisters of Charity Convent at Rue de Bac in Paris. (This is also where the apparitions of the Miraculous Medal occurred.)
In a world where so many things can be bought with money, St. Vincent teaches us by the example of his life that charity is really the most valuable currency. Admission into heaven is something money cannot buy.  Jesus teaches us in today's Gospel that money is a good servant, but a bad master. St. Vincent had many connections to rich people. He brought them to realize that the money they were blessed with was not at all a bad thing if they learned to make it their servant. If we let money be our master, if we let it take the first place in our lives, then it can be a tyrant. It can harden our hearts and blind our vision of the eternal reality of our existence.
But when money is employed as a servant, it can bring joy and comfort to many people, and especially to those who have little or none of it. Millions of dollars passed through the hands of St. Vincent, and he made every cent a good servant. Vincent regarded the money which he received or possessed as the "patrimony of the poor," and so it was always to be used for the benefit of the poor and those in need.
Pope Leo XIII made St. Vincent the patron saint of all charitable societies. Outstanding among these is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, founded in 1833 by his admirer Blessed Frederic Ozanam. Our own St. Vincent de Paul chapter here at St. John's does phenomenal work in the service of the poor who come to us for help. These parishioners work behind the scenes to meet with people, ascertain their needs, and assist them in finding the help they need.

If you would like to join our St. Vincent de Paul Society, just call the Parish Office at (651) 633-8333. Hands on and direct service to the poor is a noble way to live out our
discipleship. 

Contributing our money to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, and other worthy causes, is another way to make money our servant rather than our master. Today, let us seek to be good stewards of what God has given us, and choose to serve God, not mammon. 

"Strive to live content in the midst of those things that cause your discontent. Free your mind from all that troubles you; God will take care of things. You will be unable to make haste in this choice without, so to speak, grieving the heart of God, because He sees that you do not honor Him sufficiently with holy trust. Trust in Him, I beg you, and you will have the fulfillment of what your heart desires."

St. Vincent de Paul, Letters

I offer my heartfelt gratitude to all of St. John's  dedicated volunteers who helped in the many events that made up our Fallfest & Booya Weekend Family Celebration: Raising the Roof! A special thank you to our co-chairs who oversaw the entire operation to ensure a fun-filled and congruous three-day event for St. John's family of faith, Patty Abraham and Ann Brannon.