Newsletter – Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C.

REFLECTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE – by Lisa-Marie Calderone-Stewart

Jesus tells us that trust is based on performance. If you have shown yourself to be responsible in small things, then you will be trusted with larger things. If you have shown yourself to be careless or dishonest, even in a small matter, you will not be trusted in a more important matter.

Do these words ring true? How does your trust level – high or low – affect your relationships?

When has your ‘track record’ with your parents or teachers come back to haunt you? When have you lost trust, and then lost an opportunity for something you wanted?

When has your track record with your parents or teachers helped you? When have you proven yourself to be responsible so that you earned a privilege you wanted?

Jesus warns us that we cannot be a slave to two masters – God and money. We must decide which is more important, and then live our life accordingly.

Do you think that Jesus is implying that you can’t have any money? Or do you think Jesus is concerned only with an excess of money, a preoccupation with material things, and the greed that makes us jealous or dissatisfied with what we have?

If Jesus were to rate teenagers based on excess of money, preoccupation with material things, and a tendency toward greed, jealousy, and dissatisfaction, how well would most teenagers do? How well would you do?

Why is money such a problem? Why is greed so common? How do people learn to become so selfish?

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