MONTHLY DEVOTIONAL FOR 8 NOVEMBER
November 8, 2025
FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE SAINT JOHN LATERAN BASILICA – 9th NOVEMBER
November 9, 2025
TODAY’S GOSPEL READING
8 NOVEMBER, 2025
Luke 16:9-15
“I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you 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 entrust to you the true riches? And 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 the one and love the other, or be devoted to the 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 exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD!
REFLECTION
Today’s gospel confronts us with two profound truths: integrity in the small things, and allegiance in the great things. Jesus uses the image of wealth — not to promote materialism, but to show how we manage what we’ve been given: time, talents, relationships, resources. If we cannot be faithful in little, how will we be faithful in much?
When Jesus says you cannot serve both God and mammon, he is not just referring to money alone but to a divided heart — a heart that clings to possessions, control, status, rather than surrendering wholly to God. The Pharisees’ derision reveals a tension: they appear upright externally but their hearts are known by God. True service, then, is internal as well as external.
In practical terms: Where are the “small matters” in my life? The kind word not spoken, the promise half-kept, the impulse ignored? Are these shaping me to be trustworthy and faithful? Am I placing my ultimate trust in God or in what the world says will secure me? The call is to reorder priorities: let God-service guide what I do, how I steward what I have, and who I am becoming.
PRAYER
Loving God, you know the depths of my heart and the motives of my life. Grant me the grace to be faithful in the small things, that I may be entrusted with what is true and lasting. Free me from the tyranny of possessions and the fear of losing them, that I may serve you with undivided heart. Teach me to use all I have—not for my own security—but to build friendships, communities, and reigns of justice and mercy. May my loyalty be to you alone, and may I live so that others discover in me the welcome of eternal dwellings. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
