Vol.5 No.47 DoM Gospel Reflection
18th Sunday Ordinary Time/ July 31, 2016
Luke 12:13-31
In this week’s Gospel reading (Luke 12:13-21), we have another instance of someone asking Jesus to be the arbiter in a dispute, the judge to enforce justice. Like Martha in the Gospel reading from a few weeks ago, this man seems convinced that he has the high side of the argument. He says, “Tell my brother to share the inheritance with me”- not “Jesus, will you please ask my brother to share his inheritance with me?” This man is convinced that his position is just and right, and he probably expects Jesus to agree with him and take his side. He would not have asked in front of the crowd if he had some doubt that Jesus would take his side.
Instead of answering the man, Jesus says to the crowd gathered, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he illustrates his point with the parable of the rich man who had a record-breaking harvest, and was only concerned with how he can store it all because his barns were not big enough. The rich man is obsessed with keeping the excess in his control, and for his use only. He gives no thought to giving the surplus to the poor, to the Temple, or even to other members of his family. In fact, he seems blinded and oblivious to any other ways that the surplus grain could be put to good use. Jesus probably included the detail about tearing down the barns and building bigger ones, a ridiculous extravagance, to show that the rich man was so consumed with greed that he was out of touch with reality. He could have sold the grain to avoid bigger barns. God calls the rich man a “fool” and asks him who will have all this wealth that he has jealously guarded when death comes to him. Jesus finishes the parable with a warning: “Thus it will be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”
The words “rich”, “riches” and “treasure” made me think: in this parable, was Jesus speaking primarily to the 1%, just those fortunate enough to have a large income or inheritance? Saint Leo the Great did not think so: “The ancient enemy well knows to whom he may apply the fever of greed. He unsettles the minds of all people, preying upon our anxieties, searching into our dispositions, seeking opportunities of causing evil where he sees each one to be the most vulnerable.” Magnificat, July 2016, Vol. 18, No. 5, p. 412. The “greed that is idolatry” as Saint Paul calls it in the second reading (Colossians 3:9-11) comes in many forms. The bold man who craved his brother’s inheritance so much that he confronted Jesus about it is just one example of how greed affects our lives. Parents who may not care for having earthly possessions for themselves can become consumed with getting only the best for their children- the best schools, the best clothes, the best cell phone. Getting the best for them can become an all-consuming task. Looking for success in our careers can crowd out all chances for the Holy Spirit to guide us to the path that God wants us to take.
In his book “Catholic Christianity”, Peter Kreeft says: “Riches are not evil, nor are all rich people selfish. But riches are dangerous—more dangerous than we think, if we are to take Christ’s repeated warnings seriously. . . . [R]iches are dangerous because they tend to be addictive. . . . Thus Christ pronounces a blessing on the ‘poor in spirit’—that is, those whose spirit is detached from riches. Thus even those who are not materially poor but who help the poor by detaching themselves from some of their wealth can be ‘poor in spirit’ and blessed.” Kreeft, Peter J., “Catholic Christianity”, Ignatius Press (2001), p. 265-66. So riches and wealth are not inherently evil. Rather, it is how we feel about them and obsess over them, how our natural concupiscence yearns for them, that is the problem. It is our preoccupation with them that creates the occasion of sin and separation from God.
So what are we to do? We can nurture a poor spirit in ourselves, detaching ourselves from earthly things. “Detachment is liberating because we become like what we worship: dead, like money, or alive, like God.” Kreeft, “Catholic Christianity”, p. 267. Saint Paul tells us to “[t]hink of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-5).
Author Info
