EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME C

[cappie]

Jesus has taught us the two great commandments; the first is to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. The second is to love our neighbour as ourselves.

“ Watch and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.” Jesus tells the two brothers who are in dispute of the family inheritance. Jesus reminds them that life is not about owning or possessing things abundantly. We are to love God wholeheartedly and not to worship possessions as idols.

To emphasize his point, Jesus tells these two brothers the parable of a rich man whom he also calls as a fool, the “rich fool”. This rich man had the blessings of abundant harvests.  The scripture tells his only concerns are “I” and “my.” In his whole thought process, it is only he himself that is in the centre. It shows he only loves himself.

In the Letter to the Colossians, the author admonishes that “ you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god;(Colossians 3: 5) Greed is defined as “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed” by Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Is desiring for more of something than is needed really bad? Don’t we all want to have abundance? Don’t we all want to have a little leftover money to cushion ourselves in times of need?  

I don’t think it is when one prepares for rainy days or stores up one’s abundance that causes Jesus to call us fools, or does he condemn wealth. It is the selfish and excessive desire for oneself that becomes greed. It is the way we treat our abundance and our wealth that matters to God.

Jesus further says, “ So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.”  These people end up with spiritual death.

Who are those who are not rich toward God?

When we love God, when we love our neighbour, we are rich toward God, because we show gratitude to God of the blessings bestowed to us.

This rich man forgets about God, the one who gives him all the blessings he has. God gives him the talents to grow the crop and receives the produce abundantly. Whatever God gives will eventually be returned to God. That is what the Teacher tells us in the First Reading from Ecclesiastes?

“ For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all.” (Ecclesiastes 2:18) He can’t take all the possessions with him, neither can we.

This rich man is a fool by hoarding all the produce and thinking he can enjoy it into eternity. He does not know his last day on earth is coming soon. And neither do we.

This man’s rich in produce can be rich toward God by showing God his gratitude. He can show God his gratitude by sharing his abundance with his neighbours who may not have such blessings but are struggling in their lives. He forgets he should love God with his whole heart, whole mind, whole spirit, and whole strength. He forgets he should love his neighbours as himself.

 Who doesn’t want to be rich?   Isn’t that why we want study hard and to work hard and be successful? However, when we get rich, will we be the rich fool? Or will we rich toward God?

Trust in God—as the Rock of our salvation, as the Lord who made us His chosen people, as our shepherd and guide. This should be the mark of our following of Jesus.

We have to see all things in the light of eternity, mindful that He who gives us the breath of life could at any moment—this night even—demand it back from us.