Today's Gospel reading reminds us of the danger of placing wealth before God. Yet materialism has crept into our lives that we fall prey to its attraction and otherworldly pleasures.

Often, we do not realize that we are only stewards to our possessions as everything belongs to God! What we have is entrusted to us so that we may continue to share these gifts from God with the less fortunate.

Material possessions and money are short-lived. They cannot earn us a sense of everlasting peace, hope and love. Yet it takes wisdom to do good with the money we have. It is said that what we have is for the patrimony of the poor. St. Ambrose said, "You are not giving the poor the gift of a part of what is yours; you are returning to God something of what is His."

Let this be a good reminder each time we have shared what we have with the poor and needy. Another question we ask ourselves is: "Do we have friends among the marginalized, rejected and deprived in our midst?"

This is a crucial question we need to ask in order to be authentic witnesses of Christ.

This is how Jesus gave his answer to the criticism of his teaching on the proper use of stewardship of wealth. He said, while money gives worldly recognition and an appearance of righteousness, God sees the human heart!