Monday of 29th Week, Year II: reflection
Theme: A man’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions; beware of greed
Reading: Lk 12:13-21
Jesus began His conversation with the young man
that approached Him in today’s gospel by urging everyone to avoid greed in all
its forms, because greed takes our life’s focus away from God and away from
serving and loving other people. It then directs all our energy and attention
to fulfilling the self, making our wealth the basis of our security. Greed makes
people to always think that their lives depend on their wealth, and as such, it
pushes them to excessively desire to acquire more wealth than they need or
deserve, using any means at their disposal, even the wrong ones.
Wealth is good and can help in life, but wealth
alone cannot secure or save life because life belongs to God, and He alone gives
and takes it when He wills. Therefore, we are urged to always remember God when
we are acquiring our wealth, so that we will do it in the right way; when we
have acquired our wealth, so that we can give thanks to Him for giving us life
and opportunities; and when we use our wealth, so that we will realize that He
wants us to use them to make positive impacts on others.
The man in today’s parable neither had a place
for God nor for other people in the midst of His wealth. He is a typical image
of a greedy and selfish man. Just take a look at what he said to himself that
he would do after his plentiful harvest. It was all about him; there was no
place for God and fellow humans. His consistent use of the first-person pronoun
while planning what to do with his wealth gives a clue that he saw his life as
dependent on his riches; he evicted God and fellow humans from his heart because
of his wealth.
With the abundant harvest, the rich fool felt
he had secured his life. Many people do feel this way whenever they see
themselves surrounded by riches. Unfortunately, it was that same night that God
took his life.
Dear friends, wealth is good. But no one should
forget God while acquiring his wealth and while planning to enjoy it. Remembering
God will make us realize that life belongs to Him, that we should be grateful
to him, and that we should also use our wealth to serve others.
May you have a blessed
new week, Amen.
Fr. Isaac C. Chima.
No comments:
Post a Comment