Sunday August 20, 2023
Theme: "Greed and its consequences in the life of a citizen" Text: Luke 12:13-21
13. Someone said to Jesus, from the midst of the crowd: Master, tell my brother to share with me our inheritance. 14. Jesus answered him, O man, who appointed me to be your judge, or to divide your shares? 15. Then he said unto them, Beware of all avarice; for the life of a man does not depend on his possessions, were he in abundance. 16. And he told them this parable: The lands of a rich man had yielded much. 17. And he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do? because I have no place to squeeze my harvest. 18. This, saith he, I will do: I will tear down my barns, I will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my crops and all my goods; 19. and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have many goods in store for many years; rest, eat, drink, and rejoice. 20. But God said to him: Fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you; and what you have prepared, for whom will it be? 21. So it is with him who lays up treasures for himself, and who is not rich for God.
Let's remember:
Not everyone who followed Jesus had the same intentions. Some wanted physical or spiritual healing, others wanted to eat bread for free, some wanted to be eyewitnesses to all the miracles. Here we read that there is a man among the crowd who wanted Jesus to be the just judge and to help them divide their inheritance among brothers. This would mean that the one who confiscated the inheritance was greedy and miserly. He wanted to keep everything for himself while he did nothing to deserve this inheritance at the expense of his brother. Arrived before Jesus, instead of the other brother choosing the better part of being saved by hearing the Word of God and living according to it, he worried about the inheritance. To follow Jesus simply so that he gives us transient or ephemeral things is to miss the mark. Jesus having seen what filled the heart of this man said to him; that he did not come to share earthly riches, even inherited goods. In fact Jesus came so that his sheep might have life, abundant life but spiritual life first. Let us not monopolize the collective heritage in order to divert it for ourselves. Do not deprive others of their rights to the point of muzzling and alienating them. Let's not try to hoard everything for ourselves. We think of others and of God. Let us put our possessions at the service of God, of our family, of our neighbour. Let's not be miserly and selfish but let's have liberality and get out of greed which is idolatry. Greed makes poor orphans. She kills the people who suffer this scam. God can quickly take back our breath of life to punish our greed. Excellent Sunday. Amen Alain Louz.-
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