“Jesus said to the crowd,
‘Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.’”
“Then Jesus tells them a parable about a man whose possessions wouldn’t fit on his barn, so he built a bigger barn to hold them, saying to himself, ‘Now. . . rest, eat, drink, be merry!’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you.’
And Jesus concludes,
‘Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.’” Luke 12:13-21
“One’s life does not consist of possessions.”
We last heard this in the Liturgical Year Readings in August of 2022 and before than in 2019. How much time have you and I spent preserving and improving our gift-from-God “life” during these past three or years? Yes, a lot of things needed our attention. There were family, neighborhood, county, state, country and worldwise events that led us to focus on in-the-moment needs. Yes, because of these (and don’t forget Covid) our physical life was threatened. So, we made changes in our lifestyles to safeguard our physical wellbeing.
But my “life” isn’t just physical and it isn’t all about external possessions. In this Gospel, Jesus reminds me that my “life” needs some serious time and attention, too.
Let us spend at least a good chunk of this week’s time reflecting upon how much we, and the other people in our lives, are missing because we are spending too much of our time managing and enjoying our physical health and our possessions, and not enough time focusing on becoming the persons God knows we could be. How much of LIFE are we (and those we care about!) missing because of our not giving ourselves time to focus on the things that really matter – on my God-given inner life – on the “real” me?
All of our possessions, even our human bodies, will be left behind when our earthly lives come to an end. And all that will remain is the “me” of “my life” – the person who, with God’s help, I have grown to become. It will be just this “me” – there with God, who has been here with me all along.
And, if you are not quite sure that God is here and interested in you, please click here and read the “Is God Personally Interested in Me?” post.
Sister Loretta
