Jesus tells a parable in today’s Gospel about the proper use of possessions. He introduces the parable because he is asked to arbitrate an inheritance dispute: “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” Jesus refuses to become involved in this legal dispute and instead issues a warning against “all greed.” He teaches that our identity does not consist in what we have: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Jesus tells the parable of the “rich fool”. He is a fool not because he is rich but because he “stores up treasures for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” This rich man rests on his laurels and takes confidence in his possessions as he reflects on his life: “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!” The tragedy is that he dies that very night, and he cannot take with him all these “many good things.” God calls him foolish: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?”
How do we become “rich in what matters to God”? Jesus teaches what matters to God is to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves. What should we do with our riches and possessions? Jesus teaches that love of God is reflected in how we share our possessions with our neighbor, those in need:
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me… ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40).
In our world today we are told that we must have the latest and greatest possession to be truly happy and fulfilled. We know that is not true and that materialism and greed never brings true happiness. What really matters to us is family, friends, those in need, and our life with God. We know that we can’t take it with us so let us strive each day to be rich in what matters to God.
Image: “Jesus Christ teaching on mountain” by Sealino is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.