July 31, 2022: Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel: 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 all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

Reflection

Jesus is pretty direct in his message. Possessions are not the be all and end all of life. Greed, always wanting more, is not a good path to follow either. And finally, storing up our possessions and even renting or purchasing a storage house to accommodate our “stuff” may not be the best way to assure our future.

Action

Let’s spend some time this week identifying “what matters to God,” and how prominent these “matters” are in my day to day living. What priority do I give these “riches?” How much time do I spend in attending to them? What might I change?