Word to the Wise
Monday, October 17, 2022 - Monday in the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eph 2:1-10 and Luke 12:13-21]"'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 bes for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." [Luke]
OCTOBER 17 ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH
These words are the final lines of the Parable of the Rich Fool, the gospel scripture for today. The parable begins with a request that Jesus command a brother to share an inheritance. Jesus refuses and tells the surrounding crowd: "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions."
The great Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, wrote a story entitled, "How much land does a man need?" In this story a poor serf learns he can get as much land as he can walk around in one day. So he reports to the starting line and desperately runs for 24 hours around a large parcel of land only to collapse and die at the finish line. The answer to the title question is: "As much land as it takes to bury him!" As the old saying puts it: "There are no pockets in a shroud!"
Jesus advises us to become rich in what matters to God. The Rich Fool could not see that what he had gained was meant to be shared rather than hoarded. What matters to God is the good of the neighbor we are called to love as we love ourselves! Our culture does not teach us that "ownership" means "stewardship!" God's gifts are meant to be shared. Traditional Catholic doctrine speaks of "greed" as one of the "capital sins." Where is our true "security?" Jesus and that Russian serf have something to teach us. AMEN