Today’s readings are not very cheerful. Ecclesiastes asserts, “All things are vanity!” The responsorial psalm reminds us that in the end we will all “turn back to dust.” Paul urges us “Put to death the parts of you that are earthy,” namely our sinful addictions. And Jesus calls the rich man a fool for being so obsessed with his worldly possessions that he has lost sight of what really matters in life. Have we done that?
The rich man doesn’t see his wealth as something to be shared. Instead, he naively thinks that his wealth will secure his future. Hence, he has no need of others or even of God. How mistaken he was to identify good living with material things and ignore what matters with God. The inheritance that truly matters is not what can be given to us in someone’s last will and testament but the one that God offers us: eternal life. Did you notice how often the man in the parable uttered the word, “I” and other personal pronouns? What shall I do? I do not have space to store my harvest. I shall tear down my barns. There I shall store my harvest. I shall say to myself, “Live it up!” This man was the epitome of narcissism. All he cared about was living for himself. The use of these personal pronouns are overwhelming, clouding the man’s vision of how poverty stricken his soul is. So absorbed in himself, he was blind to the needs of others.
Jesus knows that we all need a certain amount of money and goods to sustain life, so he isn’t rebuking the rich man for what he owns, but he faults him for being greedy. “Take care to guard against all greed,” he cautions us, “for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” This warning is not just for those who are deemed wealthy, for no matter what we have, anyone of us could be guilty of greed. Listed as one of the seven deadly sins, greed is dangerous because it blinds us to God’s love. Greed has been considered the most-committed, least confessed sin in our country.
Greed is a dangerous attitude that can infect anyone, rich and poor alike, for greed is born out of the fear of never having enough. No amount of possessions, Jesus cautions, can make our lives secure in the long run. He tells us to beware of wanting more, just for the sake of having more. But isn’t that what the American dream is all about?
Few of us own granaries or barns. Still, we are constantly duped by Madison Avenue into believing that more is better, newer is better, bigger is better, more than what we already have is better but for how long? What difference will it make when we stand in the presence of God what our worldly goods amounted to? After all, as King Tut discovered, we really can’t take it with us. Have you ever seen a U-Haul attached to a hearse on its way to the cemetery?
What matters when we die as Jesus points out is being rich in the sight of God, so how do we achieve that? Although easier said than done for some people, the answer lies in choosing to live out of love instead of fear.
Jesus isn’t telling us to give up our possessions for that is neither practical nor necessary. There is nothing wrong with possessions in themselves and there is everything wrong with being destitute. All of us deserve whatever material things we need in order to pursue a wholesome life. Evils arise when concern for our possessions or the drive to have more and more becomes our highest priority. Possessions should take second place to our relationships with God and others. Achieving that for some is easier said than done.
Seek that which is above, Paul tells the Colossians; he then lists some of the things that hold us back from seeking God: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, lying and greed, namely our addictions. His advice is still timely. If they have become our idols, material goods don’t enrich our relationship with God.
Countless commercials on TV urge us to spend time calculating the extent of our earthly goods so that we won’t find ourselves going broke in retirement, but don’t overlook what matters to God: forgiveness, compassion, generosity, honesty and charity. Jesus is simply saying that our riches are to be shared, not hoarded. Consider the 3 P’s bins in the hallway. Last week, there were so few donations. When was the last time you made a donation to help Good Cheer feed the less fortunate in our community? Is your cupboard bare like Mother Hubbard or is it brimming over with more food than you can begin to consume before it is too late?
It is no secret that we live in a materialistic culture. For some people, sadly, the pursuit of wealth and possessions functions as their substitute for religion and God.
A grandmother watched as her young granddaughter eagerly searched under her pillow the morning after she had lost a tooth, bursting into tears after discovering that the tooth had not been replaced by a coin during the night. Trying to comfort her, the grandmother said, “Darling, you don’t still believe in those old fairy tales, do you?” “Maybe not,” she replied, “but I still believe in money.” Speaking of money, a London newspaper offered a prize for the best definition of money. The winning answer was this: “Money is an instrument that can buy you everything but happiness and pay your fare to every place but heaven.” Today’s parable is a wake up call for us before it is too late.