Trinity XV: You cannot serve God and Mammon

'Mammon' and 'money' are not the same thing; it's informative that in the centuries following the days of Jesus, 'mammon' began to be sometimes used to describe a demon. And well it should, because here Jesus does not speak of mammon as something that would serve you somehow--as money might--but that you serve. And we know that the devil prowls like a lion to devour Christians. So mammon is his instrument, and if we understand  that we'll be better off. Moreover, the way to resist mammon is by considering the birds of the air and the lilies of the field: birds do not sow or reap, but receive their food as God provides. And see: they eat worms from the ground. So also, as Jesus said, I am a worm and no man, and in this humility was crucified, dead, and buried; but he rose from the dead, that is, came out of the ground; and in the Sacrament we feast on Christ himself, for our salvation. And the lilies: they do no work of any kind at all, but are clothed. So also Baptism clothes us Christians in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus says in this Gospel that we should seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Here is where we find it: in the Sacraments of the Church; so let us live by faith in Christ and in his gifts. Sermon for Trinity XV.