Gospel: 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 all who store up treasure for themselves but are
not rich in what matters to God.”
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Reflection:
A rich woman
unexpectedly died without leaving behind a last will and testament. Since each
one of the her siblings wanted to have the biggest share of the wealth. the siblings were in a dilemma on how they would divide her enormous wealth. Therefore
the once strong and loving sibling relationship became divided and distant and
the reason behind was their greed for material wealth.
There are people who
feel secure with material wealth as if it could save them from the certainty of
death. There are people who think that because they have material wealth they
can now buy even the honor of their fellowmen. These are all false notions for
the reason that material wealth is temporary and it is not the be all and end
all of life.
Material wealth by
itself is not bad because this can sustain our life in this world. This can
also be our instrument in spreading the love and mercy of God, for example; we
help somebody in need using our material wealth which is surely not bad.
Material wealth becomes evil when we allow it to possess and dictate upon us.
In the gospel Jesus
tells us that life is not about material possession. If life is not about
material possession what is life all about? Life is about God! If we have all
the material wealth in this world yet we don’t have God in our life our life is
still empty and barren.
This is for the
simple reason that material wealth can be swiftly taken from us anytime. And it
surely cannot bring us to heaven when our time of departure in this world
comes. On the other hand if we choose to
have God, God will be with us until heaven.
How are you managing
your material wealth? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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