We hear a lot about "dishonest wealth" in today's Gospel. We need an adequate interpretation of this passage to understand the meaning of Jesus' words about dishonest wealth and true wealth. In short, dishonest wealth, or "mammon" as Jesus also calls it, refers to the riches of this world (wealth, pleasure, power, and honor). True wealth, on the other hand, refers to our relationship with God, our identity in Christ, our fidelity to the mission of the Church and to our particular vocations, and the exercise of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. When we serve God, we appropriate true wealth. When we serve mammon, the acquisition of dishonest wealth becomes the purpose of our lives, and when this happens we can be sure that we have lost the true north in our relationship with and service to God. "You cannot serve both God and mammon."

“Do not forget the works of the Lord!" Psalm 78 calls our attention to the Feast of the Holy Cross which we celebrate today and the most magnificent work of our salvation that God has accomplished through Christ's sacrifice on the Holy Cross.

Our readings this weekend focus our mind on God's way of thinking, which is very different from the thought patterns we are accustomed to in our world. God sees all time and space at once, not from a detached state, but deeply entering into the framework of our human history through the Holy Spirit and the Incarnation of Christ, the Son of the Father. This divine perspective should help us to trust God's providential plans for our lives, and assist us in thinking in terms of an eternal perspective when we deal with temporal issues.