Luke 12: 13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher,
tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to
the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be
rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a
parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my
harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my
barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other
goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good
things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God
said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will
it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in
what matters to God.”
Reflection:
Some
people are all about the possessions, their own possessions. How much
can I earn? How many things can I have? They always have to have the
best, the most expensive, the brand names, the best cars, live in the
best neighborhoods in the most expensive houses, and on and on.
"Keeping up with the Joneses" has become a way of life for a lot of
people. Having these nice things is not the problem, it's our
greedy attitude toward them that causes issues. Families can be torn
apart by money issues in one form or another. In this Gospel passage,
Jesus warns the brothers to avoid the sin of greed and to be on guard
against it. God does not want us to spend our lives accumulating money
and things. And if we are blessed to have that money and those things,
we should use them to honor God and build up his kingdom here on Earth.
Prayer:
Lord, help me to keep my eyes
on you and what good I can accomplish in your name using the blessings
you have bestowed on me. Let me be rich in God.
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