Cycle C - Year II:  

31 July 2022: 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 

"To collect spiritual treasures!"

We came to this world with nothing and so we will also leave our world with nothing. That is why it is wise to travel light. For we cannot bring any material possession to the next life.

It is sad when relationship is 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.

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

This brings us to the Gospel incident for this Sunday. During the time of our Lord Jesus, it was customary for people to take their disputes to the rabbis for settlement.  St. Luke tells us about an episode in the life of Jesus that deals with disputes on inheritance and material possessions.

A man from the crowd asked Jesus to intervene with a dispute on inheritance with his own brother.  Now Jesus refused to get involved in their family dispute, and instead gave the disputants this parable to "mull over."  This Parable of the rich fool is only found in the synoptic Gospel of St. Luke.

"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 harvest.  Obviously, the man 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!" And Jesus concludes this parable, "Thus will it be for all who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God." 

What is the point of Jesus' story about the wealthy landowner, and why does Jesus call him a fool?

Jesus is not condemning wealth, and not even the desire for more wealth.  Jesus' warning is about unbalanced or wrongly focused life.  The man in the parable was consumed by his wealth and his desire for more of it.  Almost nothing else mattered.  He invested in his business and failed to invest in God.  He gave his heart to money when it ought to have belonged to God.

What then really matters to God, we ask?

Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches that a person's life does not consist in the abundance of material possessions, which certainly will eventually perish.  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.

Jesus desires for us is that we seek holy and spiritual possessions.  Despite unrelenting worldly influence, we can become closer to divinity by beginning now to collect spiritual treasures.

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

So, 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!