OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS MATERIAL POSSESSIONS

 

In our today’s gospel reading, as Jesus was teaching, a man from the crowd asked him to intervene in the land dispute between him and his elder brother (Luke 12:13). But instead of attending to the man’s plea, Jesus seized the opportunity to speak to him and the crowd about the dangers of covetousness (greed), using the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). The man in this parable was qualified as a fool not because he was rich but because he lived his life without any plans of and consideration about eternity. Jesus is never against the possession of material things. The fact that we are followers of Jesus does not mean we should live a life of destitution and deprivation. We need material possessions in order to better our life. However, Jesus warns us not to allow ourselves to be possessed by our possessions. The rich fool in the parable is a good example of one who allowed his material possessions to possess him.

We often think that the quality of our life depends on our material possessions but Jesus makes it clear in the opening part of today’s gospel reading that the quality of our life does not depend on the abundance of our possessions, however great they may be (Luke 13:15). Acquiring material possessions will never bring us the happiness, fulfillment and security we long for. If many of us truly understand this point, then, we will not be going the length we go in order to gain pleasure, power and possessions. Life is more and larger than our earthly possessions. The quality of our life does not depend on the amount of riches we have stored up in this passing world, rather, on how much treasure we have been able to store up for ourselves in heaven (Luke 13:21).

The rich man was not just greedy; he was also aggressively selfish and self-centered. When God blessed him with a plentiful harvest, he thought only about himself; he could not think beyond himself. It was all about him and his needs. He did not even remember to thank God the source of every good gift (Luke 12:16-19). He did not also think about how he can share his plentiful harvest with those who are in need of food. Like our today’s politicians who hoard and keep to themselves the things that are meant for the general public, the rich fool hoarded the produce of his harvest to himself alone. Commenting on this parable, St. Ambrose says that the sin of the rich fool is that he built a bigger barn to store his surplus farm produce when he could have stored them in the mouth of the poor.

It is proper to make plans for the future. However, we should never plan our future without God nor plan as if everything depends on us. That was another mistake the rich fool made. Also, God does not bless us so that we can spend the excess on ourselves. God blesses us with abundance so that through us, others who are in need can get a share of God’s blessing. God does not intend the blessing he offers us to stop with us; he expects his blessings to flow through us to others. God’s blessings are not meant to be hoarded or stored up in barns; they are meant to be shared with those who have none. The one whom God has blessed with more is meant to be a channel of God’s blessing to others who have less.

Great possessions are often accompanied with pride, idleness, and luxury, all of which are enemies to salvation. Our possessions should not make us forget the place of God in our lives or lose sight of heaven. God expects us to be stewards of his providence, with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others. This world is a passing world and as both the first reading and psalm 49 tell us, we take nothing with us when we die and the glory we enjoy here today does not follow us below. May the Lord help us to be thankful for the gifts he has given us, and may we also learn be generous with our gifts. Amen.