Word to the Wise
Monday, October 20, 2025 - Monday in the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rom 4:20-25 and Luke 12:13-21]"Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions....Thus will it bes for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." [Luke]
OCTOBER 20, [St. Paul of the Cross, CP]
These two sentences "bookend," as it were, the parable of the Rich Fool. Along with the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, this parable, in the Gospel According to Luke, sounds a warning about the corrosive effect of physical possessions, especially great wealth! Even those who have very little can be corrupted by the desire for it. I'm reminded, humorously, of the song from the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF: "If I were a rich man...!"
In today's passage, the rich man continues to pile up grain to the extent that he has to build additional storage! Instead of sharing it, he sees this great surplus as his security: "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" God had other plans! As the saying goes, "Nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow!"
We are all stewards, not owners, of whatever blessings that come our way from God in this life. What we do with those blessings to help our neighbor is what matters to God. The blessings can be material (money, property) or immaterial (skills, etc.) that all fall in the expression: "Time, treasure and talent." The terrible spectacle of the majority of the world's inhabitants lacking in food, shelter, clothing in the face of political or social indifference should act as an alert to what Jesus has taught us, It is dangerous to forget that every breath we draw is a gift. What matters to God should matter to us! AMEN