Today's Gospel (Lk 16:9-15):  Jesus said to his disciples, «And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes. Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling filthy money, who could entrust you with true wealth? And if you have not been trustworthy with things which are not really yours, who will give you the wealth which is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money».

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. He said to them, «You do your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what rises high among humans is loathed by God».

Today, Jesus speaks again with authority: He uses the «so I tell you», that has a peculiar force, as if dealing with a new doctrine. «God wants everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth» (cf. 1Tim 2:4). God wants us saints and today He points out to some necessary traits to reach this saintliness and have the “true goods”: faithfulness to small things, authenticity and never to forget God knows our hearts.

Faithfulness to small things falls within our reach. Our journeys are usually formed by what we call as “very normal things”: the same job, the same people, some pious practices, our family... And it is in these ordinary realities where we must fulfill ourselves as persons and grow up in saintliness. «Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones» (Lk 16:10). We must do all things well, with upright intention and a sincere desire to please God, our Father; when we do if for love, it has a greater value and prepare us for the “true goods”. How well did St. Josemaria express it!: «Have you seen how that imposing building was built? One brick upon another. Thousands. But, one by one. And bags of cement, one by one. And blocks of stone, each of them insignificant compared with the massive whole. And beams of steel. And men working, the same hours, day after day... Have you seen how that imposing building was built?... By dint of little things!».

It can help us to live the rectitude of intention to carefully make, every evening, our examination of conscience without ever forgetting that God sees everything, even the most hidden thoughts, as we learnt with our catechism, and that the important thing is to please always our Father God, whom we have to serve with love, bearing well in mind that «No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt» (Lk 16:13).