Year C

18TH SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME

► Text of Sunday Reflection

“Become Rich in the sight of God”
by Fr John Campion SDB

Jesus is not interested in settling a dispute between two brothers and the response he gave is not what  the man was expecting. We all have heard stories of how property and riches have destroyed relationships and families. Instead of dividing the inheritance he shows them how it is dividing them. There is a story told of a wealthy landowner in the Scottish highlands. He had a stately mansion overlooking a beautiful valley. But there was a basic emptiness in his life. He had no religious beliefs, he lived alone and was possessed by his possessions.

In the gate lodge at the entrance to his estate lived John,  his farm manager. John was a man of simple faith and deep religious commitments. He was a regular churchgoer with his family, the Lord’s presence was a reality in his home and often at night the landowner noticed John’s family on their knees in prayer.

One morning the landowner was looking out on the valley. As he was gazing at the beautiful scene, he was saying to himself, it is all mine, when he hears the doorbell ringing. Going to the door he found John on the doorstep. What’s the matter John? he asked’. John looked embarrassed. ‘Sir could I have a word with you’.  Sir, said John hesitantly, ‘last night I had a dream and in it the Lord told me the richest man in the valley would die tonight at midnight. I felt you should know.

The landowner dismissed him but John’s words kept bothering him.  So much at 11am he took his car and went to the doctor for a check up. The doctor examined him and pronounced him fit as a fiddle and said he would give him another twenty years. The landowner was relieved but a lingering doubt caused him to invite the doctor around. They enjoyed a meal together and shortly after 11.30pm the doctor got up to leave but the landowner persuaded him to remain on.

Eventually midnight passed and he was still on the land of the living, he saw the doctor to the door and made his way upstairs muttering, ‘silly old John … upset my whole day him and his dreams. No sooner was he in bed and he heard the doorbell ringing. It was 12 .30am and going down he found a grief stricken girl at the door who he recognised instantly as John’s teenage daughter. Sir she said, looking at him through the tears. ‘Mam sent me to tell you that daddy died at midnight’. The landowner froze as it was suddenly clear who was the richest man in the valley.

Riches had isolated him and he does not share his riches with others and is caught up in himself. The riches of John, his values helped him to relate and think of his God, family and others. The wisdom of Jesus, ‘a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs. We have the wisdom of the old people that there are no pockets in a shroud and we cannot bring our wealth with us or a hearse does not stop at a bank.

The rich fool is asked this night your soul will be asked for and this hoard of yours whose will it be then?  How many  have made the mistake and someone who has not toiled for it at all will enjoy it. We all can be tempted to believe  that we can find security in wealth. Faith in wealth crowds out faith in God.  We are rich in the sight of God  in not what we own or achieved but what we are. May we take the wisdom of Jesus to heart. Jesus, help me to be content with my life. Help me to trust in your loving care, every step of the way and become a new creation in you. In that creation we will be rich in the sight of God by giving and sharing what we have received.

► Readings, Reflections & Prayers

Scripture readings: Association for Catholic Priests
– www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie
Reflections and Prayers by Fr Jack Finnegan SDB

1st Reading – Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”

Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”

He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angy if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

2nd Reading: Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Gospel Reading: Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

► Lectio Divina

by Fr Juan José Bartolomé SDB

Introduction to Lectio Divine

On one occasion, a stranger sought the support of Jesus to help him to settle a family dispute concerning an inheritance. He was obviously impressed by the level of acceptance Jesus had won by his preaching and the authority that was attached to his opinions. To people nowadays, the incident may seem unimportant. We are so used to seeing families quarrelling over an inheritance that, to us, it seems reasonable that Jesus should try to avoid giving a decision on a family matter. However, while it is true that he did not want to get into discussion with the two brothers, he did not let the opportunity pass without teaching his listeners what part money and property should play in their lives. He did not try to solve the family problem, but he did not let pass the opportunity to teach the people who were following him. He did not refuse justice to the man who sought his help. He tried instead to free him from his concern for possessions. What is important is not the amount we own in this life, but life itself that we have received. It is more important than any other possession.

Read: understand what the text is saying, focussing on how it says it

On this occasion the teaching given by Jesus was not chosen by him, but arose out of a dispute between two brothers. The reason for the dispute is quite trivial but also very common. A quarrel over a legacy was threatening the relationship between the two brothers. One of them came to Jesus who was recognised as a peacemaker, a sign of his authority and impartiality (Lk 12, 13).

Jesus responded in a surprising manner. He declared himself unable to act as judge in this family argument (Lk 12, 14). He skipped over the question and took advantage of the occasion to give a lesson to all regarding possessions and the use to be made of them (Lk 12,15). Jesus did not direct his words only to his disciples. His teaching was intended for all who were listening.

The teaching was in two parts – a serious warning about being too anxious for possessions, which end up possessing the people who have them (Lk 12, 15), and a parable which serves as an explanation and the basis of his teaching.

The episode is clear and concise. Jesus warns against an inordinate desire for possessions, and he gives good reasons. The goods we possess in life do not guarantee the possession of life. Without life, of what use will life’s goods be? The parable creates a situation that sheds light on the issue and develops Jesus’ teaching. The landowner’s reasoning is sound, because he foresees a good harvest. However, he thinks only of increasing his wealth. Instead of being master of his goods, he allows them to take ownership of him. He owns a lot and dreams about owning more. He is no longer master of his life. However, his possessions will not prolong his life. He can add all he likes to his stores, but he cannot add one day to his life. He possesses a lot, yet to him it does not seem enough and he wants more. He does not realize that what he has is worth a lot more than what he is missing. He pays little attention to what he already has – all he wants is to have more!

Those who do not put their trust in God, cannot be sure of their possessions, nor can they be sure of even one more day, because nothing can guarantee life. Their need will always be greater than their barns. There is no point in filling our life with goods, since we do not yet possess it. A life spent amassing and storing possessions is, by very definition, fragile. If we allow ourselves to be possessed by the goods we own, it will lead to losing what really matters, namely, God and his goods. What matters is not what we want but what God wants to give us, if we allow him to become our only good. God is our only good, and we cannot but desire to have him. And if we have God, we can let go of all other desires and all other goods.

Meditate: apply what the text says to life

Jesus refuses to act as mediator in a dispute between brothers, not in order to avoid a controversial decision, but to free his listeners from being anxious over possessions. He does not want to enter the dispute because he does not want to condemn anybody. Instead, he wants everybody to trust in God’s justice. It is pointless worrying, he says, for something that cannot guarantee your existence. It does not make sense to lose one’s life, or in this case the life of the family, for something that cannot preserve life.

Jesus did not go looking for this case, but he was presented with an unenviable situation. There were not many times when he was asked to intervene in a situation that did not require a miracle. These people were not asking Jesus to show his power, or his compassion. All that was wanted here was his good judgement and his impartiality. By asking for his decision, they showed that they were willing to accept it. Jesus was recognised as a good mediator. This makes his refusal all the more surprising. Was this not part of his duty? Jesus points out the futility of fighting for what cannot guarantee life, however good the reasons might be. He gives a reply, an indirect but effective one, to the brothers who were fighting over an inheritance. It does not matter how much property was involved, it could not guarantee the most important thing they had, which was life itself.

Jesus did not want to make his decision obligatory. Instead of resolving an individual case, he decided to instruct his followers. He wanted to convince them all of the precarious value of material things. He was not satisfied with persuading one man to share the inherited goods with his brother. He used this particular case as the basis for a universal teaching. There is nothing more likely to cause pain and division in a family than an inheritance. A father’s legacy, no matter how big it may be, cannot compensate for the loss of a brother’s love. What matters is not what we already possess, nor what we may acquire, but what we are, and this is worth fighting for. Life does not depend on material things, so it makes no sense to sacrifice life for them.

The man was asking for justice, nothing more. Jesus told him that it was better to renounce earthly goods than to risk losing his life and his family in fighting for them. Jesus did not try to restore their brotherly love by a just distribution of the goods. He was far more concerned about healing the man’s heart, because that was where the root of his desire lay. Jesus refused to enter the dispute on behalf of one man, but proceeded to offer teaching to all on another topic: what will really heal a person’s relationships is not holding on to one’s rights, but being willing to renounce what one does not yet possess. It is not a matter of how much one has. The problem is when one desires more than what one has.

What use will it be to acquire everything we think we are entitled to, if we do not have time to make use of it all? Why do we want to be owners of so many things, if we do not care about our own life? To Jesus’ way of thinking, if owning a lot of things does not guarantee survival, there is no point in fighting for our rights to acquire goods we may not live to enjoy. It is risky to base one’s life on goods that cannot guarantee life. Getting ownership of what belongs to others is not the best way to preserve our own life. Accumulating possessions that we ought to share with others, will indeed make us richer but it will also make us less human. We are not better because we possess more, and it brings us no honour if we acquire what rightly belongs to our brother.

The things we have and the people with whom we live are to be considered goods to the extent that they sustain our life, meeting our most urgent need, be it for food or for love. What is the point of stealing something from someone if it can do nothing to safeguard life? However valuable it may be, nothing is as precious as life – our own or that of our brother. We can renounce everything except life.

Jesus has nothing to say here about the amount of goods we possess. He is talking about the mentality that drives us to seek possessions. It does not matter if our possessions are many or few, they nourish in us the desire to have more and better goods. This covetousness endangers life itself, our supreme good, because there can be no good without life. It is a precious gift that cannot be bought at any price.  Jesus uncovers the deep dissatisfaction that takes hold of us when we cannot attain the goods we long for, when we cannot get what we want. And he gives us a simple rule to cure us of this greed: value life as a good that has been freely given to us, and live life appreciating it for what it is, our greatest good. The gift of life can be enjoyed without the desire for anything else.

Sadly, that is not the way we live. We are gripped by an anxiety to possess things. We watch over what we have and we fret over what we have not got. We spend today worrying about getting more for tomorrow. We have not learnt to live with what we have. We add to our insecurity by accumulating goods, and we overlook the fact that tomorrow may never come. Even today is not guaranteed! The amount of goods we have stored up in this life does not give us security, and certainly not if we have impoverished others in our efforts to accumulate them. The joy of living that is based on possessions has no future. The pleasure that comes from abundance is very small. Material goods do not satisfy the people who find their happiness in them.

With the parable of the rich man, Jesus wants to teach his listeners that there is little value in being the owner of many things, if one is not the master of one’s own life. To understand Jesus’ teaching we need to bear in mind that the rich man’s plan of action was quite logical, in part even praiseworthy.  As a landowner he was acting with prudence and foresight. He foresaw a good harvest and took the appropriate measures. First of all, he would increase the size of his barns, and then he would be able to enjoy his wealth. There is nothing wrong, or foolish, in increasing the size of the barns if you are expecting a good harvest. Making sure that nothing gets lost is the least you would expect of a good landowner. Being happy with what you foresee coming is quite different from cherishing false illusions. The landowner organized everything and he was happy with the wealth that was coming.  He was a lucky man and he acted wisely. But that is not how Jesus saw things! Anyone who puts his trust in what he has obtained, or finds his happiness in an abundance of wealth, will leave it all behind at the end of his life. He will find himself without wealth and without God.

There is something very serious hidden in the attitude of the rich man, even though his approach may seem reasonable. So serious is it that Jesus utters a condemnation which is quite unusual in the parables. He speaks to the man in the words of God: the man is a fool if he puts his trust in possessions and thinks he is secure because of the amount of goods he owns, and forgets that tomorrow may not dawn for him.

Goods that can easily be lost cannot be our most valued goods, nor the most precious. Unless we have God as our supreme good, all our other goods are worthless. To make something other than God our source of happiness is to risk losing all. We cannot be sure of any goods, if we do not make sure that God is our supreme good. The man who has many possessions will always find that his barns are too small, because he is always trying to fill his life with more than what he already has. If he lets himself be owned by what he has and by what he would like to have, he will lose the one good he always has, namely God and the things of God. Our real good is not what we want now, but what God wants to give us if we make him our only good.

Jesus criticises the avarice of the landowner because he wants more and wants a better life for himself only.  He was dreaming of a large harvest that would allow him – and him alone – to live the so-called good life.  By accumulating wealth for himself, he actually made himself worse off, for he cut himself off from his brother in need. He was making life more difficult for those who were poorer. He thought he could live and enjoy life on his own.  A man is a fool if he wants more than he needs, or keeps on trying to satisfy his desires just because he has room for more. Those who do not put their trust in God cannot guarantee their possessions nor can they add one day to their lives. God is our only good and we cannot hide from him our desire for other things. And if we have him as our only good, we cannot have other desires or other goods.  As believers, our happiness comes, not from the more we have, but from the more we know we are loved by God. When we have God, nothing else is necessary and we will never be without the joy of life.