August 4th 2019.  Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 12,13-21

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL   Luke 12,13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,

“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 

He replied to him,

“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 

Then he 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 he told them a parable. 

“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 

He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,

for I do not have space to store my harvest?’

And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:

I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. 

There I shall store all my grain and other goods

and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,

you have so many good things stored up for many years,

rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’

But God said to him,

‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;

and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’

Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves

but are not rich in what matters to God.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . .  In the Gospel, a man asks Jesus to sort out an inheritance dispute with a family member. Jesus replies, “Who appointed me as your judge?” It might seem like Jesus is saying, “Don't bother me with matters such as these!” But in reality, the answer to the question, “Who appointed me as your judge?” is “God the Father!” All disputes over property, all concerns about material things, must be looked at from the perspective of God the Father. The Father appointed Jesus as judge and Lord of history. The crucial criterion of decision-making is: “How will this decision look on judgement day?” This is one of the principles of discernment of Ignatian spirituality. In fact, Jesus then goes on to tell a parable which serves to emphasize this very point. A man has an immense harvest and begins to plan the rest of his life as if his destiny were in his own hands. But he failed to take God into account, and died that very night. The ultimate criterion for action is God! How will this decision look from the perspective of eternity? What will it mean on judgement day? When the man in the crowd asks, “Tell my brother to give me half of the property”, Jesus in truth is replying to him, “What is more important to you, the property or your brother? Loving your brother, sharing with him, forgiving him for not sharing with you – these are the things that will matter in eternity! All the rest - money, property, inheritance - are so much rubbish that will pass away”. Now, if we live this life of detachment from the world, trusting in God as our first priority, does that mean that we live as aliens in this world? No! It is when we detach ourselves from property that we align ourselves with the things that really matter! Love, forgiveness, fidelity. It is attachment to worldly things that alienates us from the fullness of life.

A bystander asks Jesus to talk about things that matter for once – money and inheritance!

Jesus is preaching and a man interrupts him: "Master, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." Some injustice or other among brothers is at stake here, it seems. Or maybe it is just a request for the property to be shared. However, it is clear that we are talking about a conflict of interests between money and fraternity. How many families quarrel over money problems? It seems likely that the guy who interrupts Jesus is the victim and the other brother is there present in the crowd - otherwise how could Jesus instruct him? In effect this man is saying to Jesus: "Instead of all this strange preaching you do, why don’t you speak about things that count for once! Let's talk about money and justice!” Up to now, Jesus had been telling people not to worry about persecution, not to be concerned about their safety, but to publicly stand by him him whatever the cost, and other odd sayings like this!

Does Jesus tell the man that he is not interested in inheritance questions? Or does he give the ultimate answer to what really matters in property disputes of this kind?

But Jesus replies to the man with a strange question: "O man, who made me judge or mediator over you?" What does the Lord mean? Is he saying, "What do I have to do with these issues? These are not my task.” But the answer of Jesus can also be read in another way. We know from Luke himself - in the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul speaks in Athens (Acts 17.31) - that for the early Christians there was a keen awareness of the importance of the seventh article of the Creed: "He will come to judge the living and the dead." When Jesus asks, “Who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” the clear answer is: “God the Father”! Jesus was raised from the dead and made Lord and judge of history. In fact, Jesus doesn’t just dismiss the man’s question as irrelevant; he continues to respond to him in the discourse that follows.  What is really important in existence, Jesus is asking? What does life depend on? So he tells the parable of a man who, after an immense harvest, starts to plan everything as if would never die, as if his entire destiny was is in his own hands. But God has other things to say to him: "Fool, this very night your life will be required of you. You didn't take me into account, when you made your calculations. And life and death are in my power.”

The ultimate criterion for action is eternity. How will this decision look from the perspective of eternity? What will it mean on judgment day? Loving my brother, sharing with him, forgiving him for not sharing with me – these are the things that will matter in eternity! All the rest - money, property, inheritance - are rubbish that will pass away.

In the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius regarding discernment, the image is used of standing before the Lord on the day of judgment. If I decide on a course of action, how does that course of action place me before God? Will it be something that can bear God’s penetrating and transparent gaze, or will I be ashamed of this choice? The criterion of good decision-making is life, but real life, the eternal variety. And therefore the ultimate parameter of discernment is to ask “How will this thing finally look at the end of time?” The first reading for Sunday is the powerful beginning of the Book of Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities: everything is vanity!" That verse was the cheerful refrain of Saint Philip Neri, who preferred heaven at every turn of life. Everything is vanity. Everything passes. Saint Paul says that only love will endure beyond death (1 Cor 13: 8). Only relationships go beyond the grave. Loving my brother is a matter of eternity, money is not! To divide the inheritance with him, or to forgive him because he did not share it with me,  is a question of eternity. The rest is rubbish. Death will pass and take it away. Then only love will stand.