Cycle C - Year II:

31 July 2016: Eighteen Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Gospel: Please read Luke 12: 13-21

God, our Greatest Treasure!

It is sad to hear of relationship broken because of fight or disputes over properties or wealth. What causes disputes and what's the best way for settling them?

Disputes may arise out of greed. Because he who is greedy is always in want.

During the time of our Lord Jesus, it was customary for people to take their disputes to the rabbis for settlement.

We hear in this Sunday Gospel an episode in the life of Jesus from the Gospel account of St. Luke that deals with disputes on inheritance and material possessions.

A man from the crowd asks Jesus to intervene with a dispute on inheritance with his own brother. But Jesus refuses to get involved in the family dispute, and instead gives the disputants a parable to "mull over".

"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest." He is a successful businessman who decides to build larger barn to store his plentiful harvests. Because he thinks that in this way he can secure his future.But God says to him, "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you." Jesus concludes His parable, "Thus will it be for all who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God."

What then is the point of Jesus' story about this wealthy landowner, and why does He calls him a fool?

Jesus does not fault him for his industriousness but for his egoism and selfishness. He has lost his capacity to be concerned for others. His life was consumed with his possessions and his only interests were in himself.

In other words, Jesus gives a lesson on using material possessions as well as a warning to beware of all covetousness While we need to work hard to provide for our basic needs, we must avoid greed in all its forms. That is to say, we must fight the temptation to keep seeking more and more of the world's treasures at the expense of becoming rich in what matters to God. For the greedy have no place in God's kingdom.

So then, what matters to God?

Jesus teaches that a person's life does not consist in the abundance of his material possessions, which certainly will eventually perish with him. Rather, Jesus probes the heart in this parable -- where is your treasure? And treasure has a special connection to the heart, the place of desires and longing, the place of will and focus.

In sum, the thing we must truly set our heart on is on the highest treasure. And that's God Himself. What do you treasure most?

We also celebrate this Sunday Fil-Mission Sunday. Let us practice our missionary vocation by sharing our faith to all peoples and be generous with our support through prayers, sacrifices and material offerings.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!