LK 16:9-15 God knows our hearts

Saturday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time
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By KIM ELENEZ


By earthly measures I am a successful person.  I have a beautiful family. I have an important position at work. I have a team of employees. I have. I have. I have. But what do I give?

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."

As to be expected, I give to my friends and family. But what do I give at work? We spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our family, but in a professional environment the concept of “giving” is much different. It can even be viewed as a weakness.

I recently hired someone, and she is amazing. She is smart, confident and immensely capable. My job is to set her up for success and, ultimately, help her to be better at this job than me. That is my responsibility. In fact, it is a vow. Whether they know it or not, I want everyone on my team to be better than me at what we do. Some people think I have an agenda, and let's be clear, I do. Behind this seemingly selfless philosophylies pride. If I create a team of star performers, who gets the credit? Me! Oh, how good I will look when they all succeed. 

Is this dishonest wealth? I do something that is meant for another, but I am the one who is gaining? I suppose it's all about intent, and some days the intention is better than others. And God sees this. He knows our hearts and all its intentions.

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.”

This gospel passage both excites and terrifies me.Because He knows. Uh oh. The good, the bad, the ugly. He knows it all.

I will continue in my attempt to help people on my team be better than me (any team, not just work, and especially my friends and family). I'm not suggesting that being better than me is hard to do, but it's all I got. And I pray I have the strength to give it all away. And if I don't get praise for it, that's ok. God knows my heart.

So for the time being I may be successful by earthly measures, I'm certain that will fade. Success by heavenly measures is a whole different story - it will last for eternity. I'll keep working on that.

This meditation was written by Kim Elenez, wife, mother and media executive in Raleigh, NC. Kim converted to Catholicism in 2012.