Cycle C - Year I:  

4 August 2019: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

Second Reading:   Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 12:13-21

Growing rich in God's kingdom!

It is sad when we hear of relationship broken because of fight or disputes over properties or wealth.  In our world, the distribution of an inheritance among the living relatives is always a delicate question and, many times, it is the occasion of disputes and of tensions without end.

What causes disputes and what is the best way of settling them?  

Disputes may arise because of greed.  Because the person who is greedy is always in want.  

Now throw back, during the time of our Lord Jesus, it was customary for people to take their disputes to the rabbis for settlement.  So we hear in this Sunday's Gospel narrative an episode in the life of Jesus from the Gospel account of 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.  Now Jesus refuses to get involved in their family dispute, and instead gives the disputants this parable to "mull over":

"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest," the Lord begins.  He is a successful businessman who decides to build larger barn so he can store his bountiful harvests.  Obviously, 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 the parable, "Thus will it be for all who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God."

So what is the point of Jesus' story about the wealthy landowner, and why does Jesus calls him a fool?

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

Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ warns us to beware of all covetousness when it comes to material possessions.  Now while we need to work hard to provide for our basic needs, but we must always 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 treasurers at the expense of becoming rich in what matters to God.  For the greedy has no place in God's kingdom.

So then what really matters to God, we ask?

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

And so, the thing we must truly set our heart on is on the highest of all treasures.  And that means God Himself, and growing rich in God's kingdom.  Let us heed our Lord's warning that the greedy person has no place in the kingdom of God.  And Jesus calls him a fool who thinks amazing worldly treasures can make him rich in the sight of God.    

What do we treasure most in our life?

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!