SATURDAY MEMORIAL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, NOVEMBER 8, 2025
- Olivia M. Bannan
- Nov 8
- 2 min read
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other ,or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”
REFLECTION
"You cannot serve God and mammon"
Fulfilling my prayers for the dead, we visited the historic Morton Cemetery in Richmond, Texas, established in 1825. It is the resting place of pioneering figures such as Jane Long and Mirabeau B Lamar. Santa Anna on his way to San Jacinto camped on those grounds.
It is a very inviting cemetery with an atmosphere of history, reverence, and the quaintness of visiting family.
So much history amidst the sprawling moss draped oak trees, winding paths, benches with portraits of the deceased, mementos left behind such as teddy bears and toy planes.
Found the site of a friend, AH, whom I met at an ACTS retreat. Sat on her bench, prayed and reminisced on her life, her family, her sorrow at losing her daughter and her commitment in caring for her sick husband.
Every gravesite had a story to tell; souls created by God had their time on earth and now we were praying for their eternal rest. In the cemetery's peaceful settings, we could appreciate and quietly contemplate. Did they hear the Word of God, were their souls ready to meet Him? We prayed for their souls, the Lord's mercy and compassion and that they would inherit the reward promised them.
One could not tell who were the poor, the rich, the famous, or the powerful. May we live a life of simplicity, knowing God will supply our needs. Our time here on earth is short lived and temporary. May we nourish and prepare our hearts to see God.
"Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich."
2 Corinthians 8:9
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