Gospel LK 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 the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Reflection:
Today’s parable prompts me to ask myself the question, “In whom or what do I put my trust?”
Jesus begins the story with the words, “There was a rich man….”
He was “already” rich. But, his wealth did not give him a sufficient sense of security or well being.
So, he asked himself, “What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?”
It seems that it never even occurred to the rich man to give some of his surplus crop to the poor and the destitute.
Instead, he thought, “This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.”
God said to him, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you…”
There is not a barn large enough to store the sense of security and well being that comes from putting our trust in God.
“What gift shall I bring to God upon entering the pearly gates: the produce in my barns or the gratitude of the poor whom I have served for Christ?” — Unknown