Luke 12:13-21

Ephesians 2:1-10

Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4ab, 4c-5

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 the one who stores up treasure for himself

but is not rich in what matters to God.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, my life does not consist of possessions. You are my life! The food and drink I most desire is that of the heavenly banquet. The things of this world are good, but they do not ultimately satisfy me. The vision of your face is what I most deeply desire.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Administrators of Earthly Wealth: Jesus tells the sad story of a rich man who found security in material things and forgot about the most important thing: the love of God and neighbor. After a bountiful harvest, the man rightly asked himself: “What shall I do?” The story teaches us that we all need to see ourselves as stewards and administrators of the goods of the earth and need to ask ourselves: “What shall I do?” Our response should not be that of the rich man who planned to store earthly treasure for himself, sit back, and relax. Saint Cyril of Alexandria writes that the rich man does not look to the future. He does not raise his eyes to God. He does not cherish love for the poor, nor does he sympathize with those who suffer. Saint Augustine says that the rich man did not realize that the bellies of the poor were safer storehouses than his barns. Imagine for a moment if the rich man had said something like: “This is what I shall do: I will sell the extra grain and give to the poor. I will build a hospital for the sick and will give to the Temple of the Lord. And I shall to myself, ‘Now as for you, you have received many good things from the Lord. I thank the Lord and ask him to show me his ways so that I may serve him and his people.” The Lord would have looked down on him, and when the rich man died, Jesus would have said to him: “Welcome into my Kingdom, good and faithful steward, for what you did for others, you did to me.”

2. True Inheritance: Commenting on the first part of our Gospel passage, Saint Ambrose teaches that what we need to seek most is not the temporal inheritance of money but rather the eternal inheritance of immortality. And Saint Augustine sees that greed divides us while love unites us. We can successfully guard against greed by filling ourselves with love. Greedy covetousness is a pitfall of the devil and hateful to God. Paul calls it idolatry (Colossians 3:5). And Jesus teaches that we must be on guard against all greed. Our lives are not measured by what we possess but by who we are. What matters to God is not our net worth but rather our response to his grace, love, and mercy.

3. Recreated in Christ through Grace: Paul was a person who had his eyes fixed on God. He invited the Ephesians to do the same and contemplate God’s saving action through Christ. Like the rich man, we also once lived according to the age of this world and followed the desires of the flesh. But God, in his mercy, brought us to life with Christ and saved us through grace. By grace, we have been saved through faith. “God has rescued us by raising us in some sense above the spiritual death that was the consequence of our sinful way of life (Rom 5:17-18; 6:2-4), ‘the age of this world’ (see Rom 12:2; Gal 6:14), the power of the devil (Col 1:13), and 'the desires of our flesh' (Rom 8:1-10; Gal 5:13-25)” (Williamson, Ephesians, 61). In this life, we begin to experience the benefits of salvation, yet a more glorious future awaits us. The grace that saves us is a gift of God that we welcome and not something we produce on our own. God’s grace is not a result of our works. The grace of salvation comes to us through faith, through a personal commitment that includes belief, trust, and obedience. Through grace, we have been recreated in Christ Jesus. “‘Created’ emphasizes the radical newness of life in Christ. Jesus’ resurrection began the new creation and our re-creation was accomplished when we were joined to our risen Lord through faith and baptism” (Williamson, Ephesians, 65). Saved by grace, freed from sin, recreated in Christ, we are called to accomplish good works of love and charity. We are called to a new life, different from a life of sin and transgression. “Good works are important as a goal and outcome of our faith, and Paul wants us to know that God is also at work in the good works that God has prepared in advance” (Williamson, Ephesians, 65). In this way, we live according to the Spirit and carry out God’s loving will.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have recreated me in your image as a child of God. I have been reborn to new life through Baptism and am called to do good works that serve others in need and extend your Kingdom throughout the world. Help me to appreciate all that you have done for me and live my Christian life to the full!

Living the Word of God: How am I administering the temporal goods I possess? Do I find security in temporal things or the eternal God? Do people in need frequently turn to me for help? Or am I perceived as someone who is selfish with my time and treasure?