Todays’ readings warn us that possessions can assume such importance in life that they become obsessions, and we forget the place of God in our life. This is what seems to have happened with the man who addresses Jesus at the beginning of today’s Gospel. Jesus is not against him having wealth, nor is He against justice being done between the man and his brother. Jesus is disappointed that after listening to His preaching, the first concern of this man still remains his share of an inheritance.
To illustrate his point Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool. When we read the parable, perhaps we ask ourselves, “What wrong did this man do?†The man did honest work on his farmland. The land gave a good harvest. The man decided to build larger storage for his crops so that he could live the rest of his life in comfort. But he did not know that the rest of his life would last less than 24 hours. Jesus uses him as an illustration of greed even though he took nobody’s money. His greed lies in what he didn’t do. Instead of sharing his excess he hoarded it. It never occurred to the rich fool that when his barns could not hold any more, he could have given some of his wealth away. Notice how often the man says “I†and “myâ€. The man is completely focused on himself. This is exactly the opposite to the way Jesus taught His disciples to live.
So where do we get our own security and fulfillment? The voices of our society tell us that financial success is the yardstick that determines the significance of a person. But in God’s kingdom the size of the investment portfolio or bank account is not an acceptable criterion for the evaluation of a person’s life. Wealth can have a damning effect on our lives. Greedy thinking eventually builds bigger barns, bigger houses, multiple houses. We are living in a time when materialism has become the god of mainstream society. Yet millions are excluded and live below the poverty line, especially in the global south. The natural world, too, suffers when it is just seen as a resource for human society to devour as quickly as possible.
Could we focus less on accumulating more than we need and focus more on sharing and working for justice? Jesus asks His followers to identify what is most valuable in their lives. Life is to be about honoring God and all God’s creation, and the human family. Every time we and our parish community recycle, support charities, give time to mentoring young people, value people who do voluntary work, then we are living in the spirit of today’s readings. Jesus calls us to ask ourselves today: What do I value most in life? And how do I reveal that in the way I live?