OT XVIII [C] Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23; Col 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk 12:13-21

 

The making of a will is one of the important acts of adulthood. We can be rather reluctant to sit down and make our will. To do so is to acknowledge in a very concrete way that we are mortal, that one day we will leave our possessions to others. The author of the book of Qoheleth saw this as part of the meaninglessness of life – ‘a person who has laboured, must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all’. Yet, there can be great meaning in the act of leaving what is our own to those who have not laboured for it. In making our will, we are deciding how our earthly possessions at the time of death will be divided and distributed. The decisions we make in regard to our will speak volumes about who and what we really value in life. We leave our possessions to the people and the causes that are most significant to us. Our will is a statement of our loves and passions, our values and interests.

When a will is not made or when it is unclear, trouble very often ensues, as family members attempt to interpret what the deceased person really intended. Non-family members can easily get drawn into the family quarrel. In the gospel reading today, someone tries to draw Jesus into a family dispute about inheritance. A man comes up to Jesus and says, ‘Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance’. Wisely, Jesus does not get involved in this family dispute. Instead, he seizes on this man’s request to warn against the dangers of greed. Within the Christian tradition, greed is listed as one of the seven deadly sins. It appears second on the list of seven: Pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth. Greed is the desire to acquire more than we need or is good for us. When we give in to greed, we invariably do damage not only to ourselves but to others as well.

In the gospel reading, Jesus tells a story about a greedy man whose heart is not open because it is full of anxiety about the safe storage of all he possesses. His hands and his heart are full. He forgot the truth that God was the real owner of all his possessions and blessings, and he was only God’s steward or manager. Instead, he was focused on himself and was selfish to the core. He liberally used the “aggressively possessive” pronouns “I” (six times) and “my” (five times). He was possessed by his possessions, instead of possessing them. In the process, he evicted God from his heart and never thought to thank God for having blessed him with a rich harvest. He was not thankful to God for His blessings; instead, he considered them as solely the fruit of his own labor. He also failed in his stewardship duties – the returning to God of His portion in paying his tithe. He did not recognize his possessions as on loan from God, given to him to share with others.  He was starving to death spiritually in the midst of God’s abundance.  

The rich man was called a fool because he did not consider sharing his wealth. In other words, he left other people out of his possessions. St. Gregory the Great taught that when we care for the needs of the poor, we are giving them what is theirs, not ours. We are not just performing works of mercy; we are paying a debt of justice.

Henry Ford once asked an associate about his life goals. The man replied that his goal was to make a million dollars. A few days later, Ford gave the man a pair of glasses made out of two silver dollar coins. He told the man to put them on and asked what he could see. “Nothing,” the man said. “The dollars are in the way.” — Ford told him that he wanted to teach him a lesson: If his only goal was dollars, he would miss a host of greater opportunities. He should invest himself in serving others, not simply in making money. That’s a great secret of life that far too few people discover. Money is important. No question about that. But money is only a means by which we reach higher goals – loving service to others, loving obedience to God. 

There is a saying that "If you want to know what a man is, find out where he invests his money." It is a metaphorical way of saying that a person's values and priorities can be revealed by observing how they allocate their resources, particularly their financial investments. It implies that a person's investment choices reflect their goals, risk tolerance, and what they deem important. Some people keep buying new cars every year, because there is a new model in the market, or their neighbour has a better model than the one they have. It is not that they really need a new one.

The gospel reading invites us to ask ourselves, ‘What are we doing with the resources that have come our way?’ ‘Are we using them to invest in others or to invest in ourselves?’ Our resources include not just our possessions, but our time, our health, our gifts and abilities. In various ways, each one of us has been richly endowed by the Lord; it is in placing those resources at the service of others that we become rich in the sight of God and, thereby, secure our lives.

Let me conclude with the beautiful prayer from the book of Proverbs: “Lord, give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.” (Prv 30:8-9).