In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asks a couple of questions. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?” The answers would be none and nothing in that order. I want to reflect briefly on “profit” today.
In America, we live in a capitalist system. Making a profit is how a company stays in business. The Church has a long and rich teaching about this. Pope Francis has been very vocal in his condemnation of “unbridled capitalism.” Here’s the long and the short: when profit becomes more important that the human person, we have gone astray. This is where many get lost. Money (profit) becomes their god. This will only have a bad ending.
Now to the eternal. This should always remind us of the old adage “You can’t take it with you.” We can give nothing in exchange for our lives. The Good News is that that has already been done. Jesus has given His life for you! Out of gratitude, we must always be sure to be servants of others, thinking not about what’s in it for us, but how God desires us to serve His people.
Father, forgive us when we put profit above people. May we always be as generous to others as you are to us. Amen.
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