Sr. Bincy Thumpanathu CMC
READING: Then Jesus said, “watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I will say to myself, ‘you have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself ?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God (Luke 12:15-21)
REFLECTION: Lent is a time of solidarity; a favourable time for showing concern to others and a time to be more serious about becoming the people that God wants us to be. During lent we have the opportunity to make genuine efforts to love one another, especially the poorest and the weakest members of our human family. In this regard, Luke the Evangelist truly challenge each one of us to realize the foolishness in depending on worldly possessions and relying on the fleeting joy of earthly things by showing the fate of the foolish rich man. Do you think that the rich man is a fool because he is wealthy or because he saves for the future? Never! The Lord calls him foolish because he appears to live only for himself and moreover he believes that he can secure his life with his abundant earthly possessions. The selfishness of the rich man is very evident that the only person he refers to is himself: What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops? I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry (Lk 12:17-19). The Scripture reminds us that it is the fool who says in his heart that there is no God (Ps 14:1, 53:1), therefore, eat and drink, “for tomorrow we die” (Is 22:13).
Commenting on this Scripture passage, saint Athanasius, reminds: “A person who lives as if he were to die every day will not sin, for good fear extinguishes most of the disorder of our appetites; whereas, he who thinks he has a long life ahead of him will easily let himself be dominated by pleasures.” So Luke’s favourable parable of the rich man has great relevance today. As Benedict XVI said, we need to shun the foolishness of grounding our hope and happiness on material goods. It is wise and virtuous not let our heart get attached to the goods of this world, because everything is temporary, everything can end abruptly. For Christians, the true treasure we should seek unceasingly is to be found in the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Reflecting on this gospel passage Pope Francis too emphasises that riches can chain the heart and distract it from the true treasure that is in heaven.
PRAYER: Lord, like the rich man, we are frequently tempted to think that having large amounts of money and possessions will make our lives secure and happy. Forgive Lord, for trusting in amassing material goods and forgetting the eternity. Lord, lead us to a great realization that no amount of wealth or property or possessions can make us safe. Renew our hearts Lord that we may learn not to be fascinated by the securities that pass by, but to be credible witnesses every day to eternal values of the Gospel. As St. Paul exhorts, help us to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
CONTEMPLATION: Free your mind from all distractions, sit peacefully and gradually experience the presence of the Lord within and around you. In the stillness of your heart, ask yourself: Am I ever content with what I have? Do I feel always to get more? Am I willing to lay all possessions down if God asks me to do so? Is the pursuit of material things consuming me? Take few moments to reflect and imbibe a right attitude toward material goods.
ACTION: – Realize the sins that are linked to the greed of material possessions.
– Strive for faith, charity, and patience, in opposition to vanity and pride.
