The first reading today, from the prophet Amos, is chosen because it reflects the conclusion Jesus made to the story He told about a dishonest steward: "You cannot be the slave both of God and of money". Amos' message is very clear and straightforward. It's a strong condemnation of unjust and unfair behaviour in market trading or commercial relations (as we might call them in modern terminology). He condemned practices that are still very common in today's business world, and largely taken for granted as 'normal'. Put so clearly, it's easy enough to see the cheating and unfairness. And we should reflect on how we ourselves behave in our dealings with other people. But in many aspects of life, things are not quite so clear.

In Jesus' story, the master praised his dishonest servant for his astuteness and cleverness in protecting himself; and Jesus seems to approve that. It's notable that He doesn't condemn money in itself but, rather, its misuse. How we use money, in fact, can become a pointer to how trustworthy we can be in things that are much more important - all of God's gifts to us. Unfortunately, we make compromises in life, and tend to make 'gods' out of many things that are not God. We want to serve our own interests or some other 'god' of our own. But what or whom do we really trust?