Friday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time

The readings today are about the true wealth that endures, and the quiet strength of those who serve the Gospel with faith and generosity.

Saint Paul’s letter to Timothy strikes with sobering clarity. “The love of money,” he writes in 1 Timothy 6:10, “is a root of all kinds of evil.” Not money itself—but the craving, the clinging, the illusion that it can save us. Paul speaks to a young leader in the Church, but he may as well be writing to us in 2025, in a world where poverty and prosperity live side by side on the same street.

We know what this looks like in Zimbabwe. A handful prosper while many struggle to afford a bag of mealie meal. Young people graduate into unemployment, and corruption has dressed itself in the language of development. The temptation to see religion as a tool for power or wealth is as real now as it was then. But Paul doesn’t just warn—he invites. “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.” This is true wealth: not what we store in our pockets, but what we cultivate in the soul.

The psalm today echoes this teaching: “For when they die, they will carry nothing away.” The poet does not preach despair, but freedom. We do not need to live chained to anxiety about having more, achieving more, being more. No amount of money will ransom our life before God. But love? Mercy? Justice? These do not perish. They follow us into eternity.

Jesus, in the Gospel, shows us this kind of wealth in action—not in silver or land, but in community, healing, and witness. We see Jesus travelling through cities and villages, “proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God.” With him are the Twelve—and, Luke tells us, a group of women: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others. These are not bystanders. They are disciples. They have been healed—and in gratitude, they now serve. “They provided for them out of their resources.” Quietly, faithfully, generously.

We sometimes forget how radical this was. In a world where women were often invisible, Jesus sees them. Names them. Walks with them. Entrusts them with the Gospel. And they respond, not with loud speeches, but with sacrificial love. Their wealth becomes mission. Their story, part of salvation history.

In every parish, every mission station, every Jesuit community, we encounter women like them. They are not the rich of the world—but they are rich toward God. They remind us: what we give in love, we never lose.

Saint Januarius, whom we honour today, knew this richness. As bishop of Benevento, he faced the fury of persecution under Diocletian. He could have stayed silent. But he chose to stand with his people, to share their fate, to witness to a greater kingdom. Tradition tells us that even his blood—preserved in a vial—becomes liquid at times, a mystery the Church does not explain, but treasures. Whether miracle or memory, it speaks of a faith still alive, still moving, still speaking. His wealth was not in avoiding suffering, but in giving himself wholly for Christ.

This is the good fight of faith that Paul urges Timothy to take up. It is not a battle of weapons or debate, but of quiet courage, lived fidelity, and inner freedom. It is the fight to stay true in a world that rewards compromise. It is the daily choice to live for something greater than self.

Ignatius of Loyola taught that the heart learns through contemplation. So I invite you now, even for a moment, to imagine yourself walking with Jesus on that dusty road. You’re not alone. The Twelve are there. Mary Magdalene is there. Joanna, Susanna, the crowd. What do you bring? What will you offer? Not your cleverness. Not your status. Just yourself—your time, your kindness, your listening ear, your prayer.

Perhaps this morning we can ask ourselves:

• What kind of wealth am I really pursuing in my daily life?
• Who, like the women in today’s Gospel, quietly sustains the mission of Christ in my community—and how might I support them?
• Where is God calling me to fight the good fight—not with force, but with faith, love, and endurance?

May we walk the road of discipleship with simplicity, like those women, with courage, like Saint Januarius, and with hearts rich in what lasts: Christ’s love made visible in us.

Lord Jesus, you walked the dusty roads with women who gave of themselves. Grant us the grace to offer our time, our love, and our resources for the Kingdom. Help us to store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy them. May the Holy Spirit guide us to fight the good fight with gentleness and endurance. Amen.