AUGUST 4^th 2013. EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY OF TIME

GOSPEL: LUKE 12:13-21

From a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio.

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

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GOSPEL:                                     Luke 12:13-21

A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance'. 'My friend,' he replied, 'who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?' Then he said to them, 'Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man's life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs'.

Then he told them a parable: 'There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, "What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time". But God said to him, "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?". So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.'

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD:   Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Kieran’s summary  . . . In the Gospel, Jesus refuses to arbitrate in a dispute between two brothers over an inheritance. Why is he so unwilling to resolve this case of family discord? Because this is not the kind of wealth that Jesus is interested in! He goes on to tell us a parable in which a rich man rejoices over his abundant harvest, but then dies that very night. The rich man based the meaning of his life on the worldly things that he possessed.  His plans for the future revolved entirely around his material wealth. Is that how it is for you and me? Is the course of my life determined by my salary, my expenses, my possessions? Jesus’ parable challenges us to ground our lives on things that cannot be seen or possessed. And we can do this better when we learn to realize that every day is our last. This day can never be lived again. The relationships, situations and events that confront me in this moment will never present themselves to me again. I must learn to ask myself continually, “Where does my true life reside? What are the foundations of my life? What am I looking for in life? Am I searching for that which brings me profit? Or am I living for the things that remain when all material profit fades away?” The good news is that each one of us can extract ourselves right now from the cycle of basing our lives on worthless, material goods. We can simply change our perspective and learn to evaluate the worth of our lives from the point of view of Jesus, the judge and arbitrator of the only wealth of an authentic kind.

The man who asks Jesus to admonish his brother is overly fixated with the goods of this world

A man says to Jesus, “Tell my brother to give me a share of the inheritance.” We don’t know if the brother has stolen an inheritance that did not properly belong to him, or if he has simply refused to share the legacy that he has received. Jesus replies, “Who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?” By responding in this fashion, Jesus appears to be disinterested in issues of this kind, but then he goes on to say something of the greatest relevance. The fact remains that God very much is the one that judges the affairs of human beings and distributes goods among people, but the justice that God is interested in is not of the sort that this brother is fixated with. Any situation can be interpreted from various perspectives. We can consider the case from the point of view of the generosity that should prevail between brothers. This seems a legitimate point of view and a reasonable request to make of Jesus. But the problem with this request is that it absolutizes the goods of this world. According to this worldly perspective, the goods of this world are all that we possess and have an overriding value in themselves. And that is why Jesus’ reply is not diffident but highly pertinent. Jesus is not arbitrator and judge of matters such as these, but of matters that are much deeper and have a far greater import. This Gospel, in fact, speaks of riches that completely transcend the kind of wealth that the man is preoccupied with.

Jesus’ parable warns against basing our lives on the worldly goods that we possess

Jesus recounts the parable of the rich man who has a very successful harvest. On the basis of this rich harvest, the wealthy man goes on to plan the rest of his life. The riches he has accumulated will allow him to take it easy and enjoy life. Is it rare that people plan their lives on the basis of the riches that they have accumulated? No! Very often our lives revolve around the worldly goods that we possess. And Jesus’ parable is designed to show that this is completely mistaken. Worldly goods have their place. It is possible to show great love by means of the way that we distribute the worldly goods that we possess. But if we locate the meaning of our lives in the goods that we possess then we are in trouble, because all of these goods will one day be lost. The rich man who has an abundance of wealth has no response when he is asked to give an account of his life. He has nothing to offer because the “life” that he has is based on something that is transitory and false. It is a life that lacks greatness; a life that is unable to probe the wall of death; a life that has nothing to say when the final moment of its material existence arrives.

We must become rich in the eyes of God, basing our lives on things that cannot be seen or possessed

This text challenges us to become rich in the eyes of God; to accumulate treasures that are rich in themselves. We are called to be much more than what we can see and much more than what we possess. In every relationship, in every event, in every moment of our lives, there is something invisible that transcends what can be seen. Our lives are very empty if we live them only from the perspective of what we can perceive and possess. This parable asks us to reflect radically on our existence, asking ourselves, “Where does my life reside? What are the foundations that my life is supported on? What do I seek from life?” We cannot demand life from things that are more insignificant than we are! We cannot obtain life from things that are possessed temporarily! This is not to say that the management of our earthly goods has no importance. Love for the poor and the needy must be an essential part of our lives. But the people that have a genuine love for the poor are the very ones who are not obsessed with the accumulation of personal wealth!

Instead of grounding our lives on economic issues, we must ground our lives on that which remains when economic things fade away

At this point of human history, excessive emphasis is being placed on economic issues. And a disproportionate focus on economic issues leads to the poor and needy being forgotten. This fixation with the health of the economy leads us to become more and more anguished with regard to a “lifestyle” and a “standard of living” that we will nevertheless lose one day. We can be sure of one thing: the financial investments we make will all fail to make a profit; the worldy enterprises that we devote our lives to are guaranteed to fail. This Gospel challenges us to focus on that alone which remains. And what a wonderful opportunity to ask ourselves: “If today the Lord asks me for my life, what do I have to offer him? What would remain of my existence if my physical life were to come to an end at this moment?” The good news is that it is possible to extract oneself from this way of life, right now, without dying, by radically changing our perspective, just as Jesus fields the question asked from a worldly perspective and gives a reply that is from a higher perspective altogether. We simply need to begin living our lives from the point of view of their ultimate finality, from the point of view of the things that remain when these worldly goods have disappeared. For example, if today is to be the last day that I will meet my friends and acquaintances, then will I be as cantankerous with them as I usually am? How would I treat my family members if I knew that this was to be the last day of my earthly life?

Today is my last day. This is my last moment. Am I living this moment from the point of view of its eternal relevance? Or am I living this moment from the point of view of the way that it profits me now?

We need to discover the truth that every day is actually my last. It is my last day of this sort and that is a fact that we should reflect on. Each day is unique and irrepeatable. We must learn to live every moment with the lightness of heart of the one who realizes that he is not judged by this world, but that he has a single judge, a single arbitrator who alone will evaluate the worth of our lives, and the rightness of our relationship with our brothers and sisters. From this point of view, our lives become much more profound and significant. And the worthless things that preoccupy us so much are exposed as being silly and irrelevant. Where does the meaning of my life reside? How much life is there in me? Every situation that confronts us is an opportunity for us to make the distinction between that which has authentic life and that which does not. I must ask myself a thousand times if I am living this day as if it were my last.

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